application_number
string | publication_number
string | title
string | decision
string | date_produced
string | date_published
string | main_cpc_label
string | cpc_labels
string | main_ipcr_label
string | ipcr_labels
string | patent_number
string | filing_date
string | patent_issue_date
string | abandon_date
string | uspc_class
string | uspc_subclass
string | examiner_id
string | examiner_name_last
string | examiner_name_first
string | examiner_name_middle
string | inventor_list
string | abstract
string | claims
string | background
string | summary
string | full_description
string | ipcr_label_section
string | ipcr_label_class
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class label | ipcr_label_group
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11692558
|
US20070233715A1-20071004
|
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, METHOD AND PROGRAM FOR SELECTING CANDIDATE TAG
|
ACCEPTED
|
20070920
|
20071004
|
[]
|
G06F700
|
["G06F700", "G06F1730"]
|
9069867
|
20070328
|
20150630
|
715
|
234000
|
94935.0
|
HILLERY
|
NATHAN
|
[{"inventor_name_last": "Rekimoto", "inventor_name_first": "Junichi", "inventor_city": "Tokyo", "inventor_state": "", "inventor_country": "JP"}]
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Resource management system, method and program for selecting candidate tag are provided. The tag can be readily attached to a resource by presenting a candidate tag also to a resource newly registered in a database. The degree of similarity of a new registration resource to each of a plurality of already-registered resources that have been already registered in the database is calculated. A tag attached to an already-registered resource of which the degree of similarity is large is selected as a candidate for a tag to be attached to the new registration resource. Thereby, a candidate tag can be also presented to a resource newly registered in the database. A user can further readily attach a tag compared to a conventional system.
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1. A resource management system comprising: degree-of-similarity calculating means for calculating the degree of similarity of a new registration resource newly registered in a database, to each of a plurality of already-registered resources that have been already registered in the database; and candidate tag selecting means for selecting a tag attached to an already-registered resource of which said degree of similarity calculated by said degree-of-similarity calculating means is large, as a candidate for a tag to be attached to said new registration resource. 2. The resource management system according to claim 1, wherein; said resource is a web page, and said degree-of-similarity calculating means calculates the degree of similarity between text date described in an already-registered web page and text data described in a new registration web page. 3. A method for selecting a candidate tag, comprising: the degree-of-similarity calculating step of calculating the degree of similarity of a new registration resource newly registered in a database, to each of a plurality of already-registered resources that have been already registered in the database; and the candidate tag selecting step of selecting a tag attached to an already-registered resource of which said degree of similarity calculated in said degree-of-similarity calculating step is large, as a candidate for a tag to be attached to said new registration resource. 4. A candidate tag selecting program embodied on a computer-readable medium for making an information processing unit executes: the degree-of-similarity calculating step of calculating the degree of similarity of a new registration resource newly registered in a database, to each of a plurality of already-registered resources that have been already registered in the database; and the candidate tag selecting step of selecting a tag attached to an already-registered resource of which said degree of similarity calculated in said degree-of-similarity calculating step is large, as a candidate for a tag to be attached to said new registration resource.
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<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>The present invention relates to a resource management system, a method for selecting a candidate tag, and a candidate tag selecting program, and is applicable to the case of managing many resources by using a tag. Hereinafter, on the Internet, a system in which many users attach a tag to a common resource (a picture and a web bookmark) for arrangement has been generally used. For example, in the Flickr that is a picture sharing service for sharing a picture on the network (see http://www.flickr.com), an arbitrary tag such as “TOKYO”, “FOOD” or “PARTY” is attached to (associated with) a picture uploaded on a database, so that only a resource having a specified tag can be retrieved and extracted. Further, because resources are unnecessary to be classified in a specified hierarchical structure, a plurality of different images can be attached to one resource as tags, so that resources can be arranged further flexibly. This tag attachment may be individually performed. However, in the case where many users share the same resource, it works further effectively. For example, in the del.icio.us that is a social bookmark service for sharing an web bookmark on the network (see http://del.icio.us), a user can attach an arbitrary tag such as “PROGRAMMING”, “GUIDE”, “SERVICE” or “SHOPPING” to a bookmarked web page for arrangement. Further, this del.icio.us has a candidate tag present function in that if the same web page has been already bookmarked by other user, a tag attached by the above other user is presented as a candidate tag. Thereby, if a desired tag has been already attached by other user, it is unnecessary to enter the character string, and the user can readily perform tag attachment by selecting the presented candidate tag with a mouse or the like. However, in the aforementioned candidate tag present function, when in newly performing a bookmark registration of an web page that has not been bookmarked by other user, because existent tag information cannot be used, the user have to enter a tag explicitly. Therefore, there has been a tendency that as to a famous web page of which the degree of sharing is high such that many tags have been already attached, plentiful tags will be attached and it can be readily retrieved, however, as to an web page newly bookmarked, because a tag attachment operation is complicated, tag attachment is not performed so actively. As the above, in a conventional social bookmark service, there has been a problem that a tag attachment operation to a new bookmark is complicated.
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<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide a resource management system, a method for selecting a candidate tag, and a candidate tag selecting program in that a tag can be readily attached to a resource newly registered. The present application can be applied to various resource management systems. According to an embodiment, there is provided degree-of-similarity calculating means for calculating the degree of similarity of a new registration resource newly registered in a database, to each of a plurality of already-registered resources that have been already registered in the database, and candidate tag selecting means for selecting a tag attached to an already-registered resource of which the degree of similarity calculated by the degree-of-similarity calculating means is large, as a candidate for a tag to be attached to the new registration resource. By selecting a tag attached to a resource of which the degree of similarity is high as a candidate tag, a candidate tag can be also presented to a resource newly registered in a database. Thereby, a user can further readily attach a tag compared to a conventional system. The nature, principle and utility of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals or characters. Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed Description and the figures. BRFSUM description="Brief Summary" end="tail"?
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CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The present application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application JP 2006-095051 filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Mar. 30, 2006, the entire contents of which is being incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND The present invention relates to a resource management system, a method for selecting a candidate tag, and a candidate tag selecting program, and is applicable to the case of managing many resources by using a tag. Hereinafter, on the Internet, a system in which many users attach a tag to a common resource (a picture and a web bookmark) for arrangement has been generally used. For example, in the Flickr that is a picture sharing service for sharing a picture on the network (see http://www.flickr.com), an arbitrary tag such as “TOKYO”, “FOOD” or “PARTY” is attached to (associated with) a picture uploaded on a database, so that only a resource having a specified tag can be retrieved and extracted. Further, because resources are unnecessary to be classified in a specified hierarchical structure, a plurality of different images can be attached to one resource as tags, so that resources can be arranged further flexibly. This tag attachment may be individually performed. However, in the case where many users share the same resource, it works further effectively. For example, in the del.icio.us that is a social bookmark service for sharing an web bookmark on the network (see http://del.icio.us), a user can attach an arbitrary tag such as “PROGRAMMING”, “GUIDE”, “SERVICE” or “SHOPPING” to a bookmarked web page for arrangement. Further, this del.icio.us has a candidate tag present function in that if the same web page has been already bookmarked by other user, a tag attached by the above other user is presented as a candidate tag. Thereby, if a desired tag has been already attached by other user, it is unnecessary to enter the character string, and the user can readily perform tag attachment by selecting the presented candidate tag with a mouse or the like. However, in the aforementioned candidate tag present function, when in newly performing a bookmark registration of an web page that has not been bookmarked by other user, because existent tag information cannot be used, the user have to enter a tag explicitly. Therefore, there has been a tendency that as to a famous web page of which the degree of sharing is high such that many tags have been already attached, plentiful tags will be attached and it can be readily retrieved, however, as to an web page newly bookmarked, because a tag attachment operation is complicated, tag attachment is not performed so actively. As the above, in a conventional social bookmark service, there has been a problem that a tag attachment operation to a new bookmark is complicated. SUMMARY In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide a resource management system, a method for selecting a candidate tag, and a candidate tag selecting program in that a tag can be readily attached to a resource newly registered. The present application can be applied to various resource management systems. According to an embodiment, there is provided degree-of-similarity calculating means for calculating the degree of similarity of a new registration resource newly registered in a database, to each of a plurality of already-registered resources that have been already registered in the database, and candidate tag selecting means for selecting a tag attached to an already-registered resource of which the degree of similarity calculated by the degree-of-similarity calculating means is large, as a candidate for a tag to be attached to the new registration resource. By selecting a tag attached to a resource of which the degree of similarity is high as a candidate tag, a candidate tag can be also presented to a resource newly registered in a database. Thereby, a user can further readily attach a tag compared to a conventional system. The nature, principle and utility of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals or characters. Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed Description and the figures. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a bookmark sharing system. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a bookmark registration screen. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a candidate tag selecting processing procedure. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the calculation of a tag factor corresponding to the attached number of tags. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining a text management system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Preferred embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. (1) Overall Configuration of Social Bookmark System Referring to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 1 designates a bookmark sharing system as a whole. The bookmark sharing system 1 is formed by that a plurality of user terminals 4 are connected to a bookmark server 2 via the Internet 3. Each user terminal 4 is an information processing unit having an Internet connection function such as a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA) and a cellular phone. Each of them accesses an web server on the Internet 3 (not shown) according to a user operation, obtains web page data, and displays an web page based on the above obtained web page data to make a user view it. In addition to this, in the bookmark sharing system 1, by that the user of the user terminal 4 registers a user account on the bookmark server 2, a bookmark list peculiar to the above user account can be formed in the bookmark server 2. The registration user of the bookmark sharing system 1 (hereinafter, it is also simply referred to as “user”) can register the bookmark of an arbitrary web page in the user's own bookmark list (hereinafter, it is also simply referred to as “bookmark an web page”). Additionally, in the bookmark sharing system 1, when in registering a bookmark in the bookmark list, the user can attach an arbitrary tag to the above bookmark. Further, the user also can retrieve a bookmark registered by other user, by using an arbitrary tag as a keyword. That is, in the bookmark server 2, the lists of their respective bookmarks of each user have been stored in a bookmark database in a hard disk drive 11 (FIG. 2). If receiving a bookmark registration request from the user terminal 4, the Central Processing Unit (CPU) 10 of the bookmark server 2 enters this in the bookmark list of the registration user by associating an web page with a tag that are specified in the above bookmark registration request. Further, if receiving a bookmark retrieval request from the user terminal 4, the CPU 10 of the bookmark server 2 performs retrieval from the bookmark database, by using the tag specified by the above registration request as a keyword, extracts a bookmark to which the same tag as the specified tag has been attached as the retrieval result, and returns this to the user terminal 4. In this manner, in the bookmark sharing system 1, users can register their own bookmark lists in the bookmark server 2 respectively. At the same time, many bookmarks registered by each user can be shared among all of the registration users, and a desired bookmark can be retrieved using a tag from among the above many bookmarks. (2) Automatic Presentation of Candidate Tag (2-1) Configuration of Bookmark Registration Screen In addition to the above configuration, at the time when a user newly registers an arbitrary web page in a bookmark list, if this new registration page has been already registered by other user, the bookmark server 2 presents a tag attached to the already-registered page by the other user or the like as a candidate tag. That is, if accepting a predetermined bookmark registration operation by the user via input means such as a keyboard, the user terminal 4 transmits the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the new registration page that was specified by the user as an object of a bookmark in this operation to the bookmark server 2, with a bookmark registration temporary request. If receiving the bookmark registration temporary request transmitted from the user terminal 4, by responding this, the CPU 10 of the bookmark server 2 returns display data for displaying a bookmark registration screen 20 shown in FIG. 2 to the user terminal 4. Thereby, the bookmark registration screen 20 is displayed in the above user terminal 4. As shown in FIG. 2, in the bookmark registration screen 20, a URL display field 21 to display the URL of the new registration page specified as the bookmark object in the bookmark registration temporary request (hereinafter, it is referred to as “new registration URL”), a page name display field 22 to display the name of the new registration page, a tag display field 23 to display a tag to be attached to the new registration page, and a bookmark registration button 24 to register the new registration page in the user's bookmark list are displayed. In the URL display field 21, the page name display field 22 and the tag display field 23, an arbitrary character can be entered by the user via input means such as a keyboard provided in the user terminal 4. For example, in the page name display field 22, a page name attached to the new registration page is automatically displayed. However, the above page name can be freely changed by the user. Similarly, the URL displayed in the URL display field 21 can also be freely changed by the user. Thereby, a lower-order page, a higher-order page or the like in the web page can be arbitrary specified and set as a new registration URL. Further, in the tag display field 23, one or a plurality of character strings to be attached to a bookmark can be arbitrary entered by the user as a tag. Further, at a part lower than the tag display field 23 in the bookmark registration screen 20, one or a plurality of candidate tags 25 recommended by the bookmark server 2 for the new registration URL specified in the bookmark registration temporary request are displayed. This candidate tag 25 is that the bookmark server 2 selected a tag related to the new registration URL by candidate tag selecting processing that will be described later. Then, the user can select an arbitrary one of the displayed candidate tags 25 to make it display in the tag display field 23. That is, if accepting a candidate tag 25 selecting operation by the user via the input means such as a keyboard, by responding to this, the user terminal 4 copies the character string of the selected candidate tag 25, and displays it in the tag display field 23. In this manner, in the bookmark sharing system 1, the bookmark server 2 presents candidate tags 25 related to a new registration URL. Thereby, the user can readily perform tag attachment. Then, if accepting a pressing operation of the bookmark registration button 24 by the user via the input means, by responding to this, the user terminal 4 transmits the new registration URL and the page name, and an attached tag to the bookmark server 2 with a bookmark registration request. If receiving the bookmark registration request transmitted from the user terminal 4, by responding to this, the CPU 10 of the bookmark server 2 associates the page name and the tag with the new registration URL received at the same time, and registers this in this user's bookmark list as an already-registered URL. Further, at this time, the CPU 10 of the bookmark server 2 accesses an web page specified by the new registration URL, obtains a document described in the above web page as already-registered text data, and registers this in the bookmark list in association with the already-registered URL. (2-2) Candidate Tag Selecting Processing Next, the aforementioned candidate tag selecting processing for a new registration URL by the bookmark server 2 will be described in detail. If receiving a bookmark registration temporary request from the user terminal 4, the CPU 10 of the bookmark server 2 retrieves the same URL as the new registration URL that was received with the above bookmark registration temporary request from the bookmark lists of all of users on the bookmark database. If the same URL as the new registration URL has been registered in some bookmark lists as an already-registered URL, the CPU 10 obtains a tag attached to the above already-registered URL from the bookmark database, and transmits this to the user terminal 4 as a candidate tag with display data for displaying the bookmark registration screen 20. On the contrary, if the same URL as the new registration URL has not been registered in any bookmark lists (that is, if this URL will be registered in the bookmark database for the first time), the CPU 10 cannot select a candidate tag in this state. Therefore, the CPU 10 of the bookmark server 2 accesses a new registration page specified by the above new registration URL, and obtains a character string described in the above new registration page as new registration text data. Then, the CPU 10 compares the obtained new registration text data with all of already-registered text data stored in the bookmark database and calculates the degree of similarity respectively (the calculating method will be described later), selects a predetermined number of (for example, ten) already-registered text data of which the degree of similarity to the above new registration text data is high, and transmits a tag attached to the already-registered URL corresponding to the above selected already-registered text data of which the degree of similarity is high to the user terminal 4 as a candidate tag, with display data for displaying the bookmark registration screen 20. Then, the user terminal 4 displays the candidate tag received from the bookmark server 2 in the bookmark registration screen 20 to present this to the user. In this manner, the CPU 10 of the bookmark server 2 retrieves an already-registered page having the contents similar to a new registration page, and selects a tag attached to this as a candidate tag. Thereby, a candidate tag can be also presented to a bookmark registered in the bookmark database for the first time. (2-3) Calculation of Degree of Similarity and Selection of Candidate Tag Next, the aforementioned method for calculating the degree of similarity between new registration text data and already-registered text data, and a method for selecting a candidate tag will be described. As a method for calculating the degree of similarity between text data, a method for obtaining the number of co-occurrence of words, a method using Latent Semantics Analysis (LSA), and the like have been generally used. These various methods for calculating the degree of similarity can be used in the present invention. Further, as a method for selecting a candidate tag, if the degree of similarity between new registration text data and already-registered text data Sim(Newpage,Webi) was calculated as being within −1 to 1, a tag attached to the already-registered page is added by the following formula: W(Tagj)≡Σ{Sim(NewPage,Webi)*(Σ hasTag(Webi,Tagj))} (1) Here, the W(Tag) is an weighting factor to determine whether or not Tag should be set as a candidate. Further, if the tag Tagj has been attached to a certain web page Webi, the tag factor hasTag(Webi,Tagj) becomes 1, and if the tag Tagj has not been attached, it becomes 0. In this manner, the weighting factor W(Tag) can be calculated about the respective tags attached to all of the already-registered pages. Thereby, an adequate number of (for example, ten) tags of which the above weighting factor W(Tag) is large are selected, and are transmitted to the user terminal 4 as candidate tags. (2-4) Candidate Tag Selecting Processing Procedure Next, the procedure of the aforementioned processing that the bookmark server 2 selects a candidate tag for a new registration page and transmits this to the user terminal 4 will be described in detail, with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 3. The CPU 10 of the bookmark server 2 enters a candidate tag selecting processing procedure RT1 from the start step, and proceeds to step SP1. If receiving a new registration URL from the user terminal 4 with a bookmark registration temporary request, the CPU 10 proceeds to the next step SP2. In step SP2, the CPU 10 retrieves the same URL as the above new registration URL from already-registered URL in the bookmark database, by using the received new registration URL as a retrieval keyword, and proceeds to the next step SP3. In step SP3, the CPU 10 determines whether the same already-registered URL as the new registration URL has been registered in the bookmark database, based on the retrieval result. If an affirmative result is obtained in step SP3, this means that an web page that is going to be performed bookmark registration has already been registered in the bookmark database by other user. At this time, the CPU 10 proceeds to step SP4 to select a tag attached to the same already-registered URL as the new registration URL as a candidate tag, and proceeds to step SP7. On the contrary, if a negative result is obtained in this step SP3, this means that the above web page will be registered in the bookmark database for the first time. At this time, the CPU 10 proceeds to step SP5. In step SP5, the CPU 10 serving as degree-of-similarity calculating means accesses a new registration page specified by the new registration URL, obtains a character string described in the above page as new registration text data, and compares the above new registration text data with all of the already-registered text data stored in the bookmark database and calculates the degree of similarity respectively. Then, the CPU 10 proceeds to the next step SP6. In step SP6, the CPU 10 serving as candidate tag selection means calculates the respective weighting factors W(Tag) of tags attached to each already-registered page based on the calculated degree of similarity, and selects a tag of which the above weighting factor W(Tag) is large as a candidate tag. Then, the CPU 10 proceeds to the next step SP7. And then, in step SP7, the CPU 10 transmits the selected candidate tag to the user terminal 4, and proceeds to the next step SP8 to finish the candidate tag selecting processing procedure. (3) Operation and Effect According to the above configuration, if a new registration page accepted from the user terminal 4 has been already bookmarked by other user, the bookmark server 2 in the bookmark sharing system 1 selects a tag that has been attached to this page by that other user as a candidate tag, and transmits this to the user terminal 4. Thereby, a tag attachment operation to the above new registration page can be readily performed. Further, even if the new registration page accepted from the user terminal 4 has not been bookmarked by other user, the bookmark server 2 selects a tag that has been attached to a page having the similar contents to the new registration page, in all of the web pages that have been performed bookmark registration in the bookmark database as a candidate tag, and transmits this to the user terminal 4. Thereby, a tag attachment operation can be also readily performed to an web page that will be completely newly performed bookmark registration in the bookmark database. (4) Other Embodiments In the aforementioned embodiment, it has dealt with the case where a tag factor is calculated based on the presence of tag attachment, by setting a tag factor hasTag(Webi,Tagj)=1 when a tag Tagj has been attached to a certain web page Webi, and by setting a tag factor hasTag(Webi,Tagj)=0 when a tag Tagj has not been attached. However, the present invention is not only limited to this but also the tag factor may be calculated by considering the number of users who attached a tag. For example, it can be considered that when n pieces of tag Tagj have been attached to a certain web page Webi, a tag factor HasTag(Webi,Tagj)=n is set. That is, in a social tagging system as the bookmark sharing system 1 of an embodiment of the present invention, there is often a case where a plurality of users attach the same tag to a certain web page. For example, in FIG. 4, to a certain web page WebA, a tag “WINE” has been attached by three users, a tag “BAR” has been attached by two users, and a tag “RESTAURANT” has been attached by one user. A tag factor in this case is hasTag(WebA,WINE)=3, hasTag(WebA,BAR)=2, and hasTag(WebA,RESTAURANT)=1. In this manner, if calculating a weighting factor W(Tag) using a tag factor in consideration of the attached number of tags, a candidate tag which reflects tag attachment state and is highly accurate can be selected. Further, in the aforementioned embodiment, it has dealt with the case where the present invention is applied to tag attachment to an web page in the bookmark sharing system 1. However, the present invention is not only limited to this but also it can be widely applied to the case of attaching a tag to various resources of which the degree of similarity can be calculated. As such resources to which the present invention is applicable, audio data and image data, and the like can be considered. Then, as a method for calculating the degree of similarity for audio data, a similarity of power spectrum in musical compositions (J.-J. Aucouturier and F. Pachet: Music similarity measures: What's the use? Proc. ISMIR 2002, pp. 157•63 (2002)), a similarity of rhythm (J. Paulus and A. Klapuri: Measuring the similarity of rhythmic patterns. Proc. ISMIR 2002, pp. 150-156 (2002)), the feature amount of a modulation spectrum (Dixon, E. Pampalk and G. Widmer: Classification of dance music by periodicity patterns. Proc. ISMIR 2003, pp. 159•65 (2003), or the like can be used. On the other hand, as a method for calculating the degree of similarity for image data, a method based on fractal images (Takanori Yokoyama, Toshinori Watanabe and Ken Sugawara: “Feature Amount Based on Correspondence of Fractal Coded Images and Similarity Retrieval”, the technical report by the Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers, Vol. 26, No. 54, pp. 29-32, 2002), or the like can be used. Further, in the aforementioned embodiment, it has dealt with the case where the present invention is applied to a system in that a plurality of users attach a tag to a resource to manage information as a social tagging system. However, the present invention is not only limited to this but also can be applied to an individual information management system in that one user manages information. As an example of such individual information management system, a text management system in that a tag is attached to a text memo and is managed on a computer can be considered, for example. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, in the text management system, an arbitrary tag is attached to a text memo entered by a user, and the text memo can be retrieved using the above tag. Then, if a new text memo is entered by the user, the CPU of a computer executing the text management system calculates the degree of similarity between the above new text memo and existent text memos already entered, and presents a tag that has been attached to a text memo of which the degree of similarity is high as a candidate tag for the new text memo. Thereby, in this text management system, the user can perform tag attachment to a text memo with a simple operation. According to an embodiment, there is provided degree-of-similarity calculating means for calculating the degree of similarity of a new registration resource newly registered in a database, to each of a plurality of already-registered resources that have been already registered in the database, and candidate tag selecting means for selecting a tag attached to an already-registered resource of which the degree of similarity calculated by the degree-of-similarity calculating means is large, as a candidate for a tag to be attached to the new registration resource. Thereby, a resource management system, a method for selecting a candidate tag, and a candidate tag selecting program in that a candidate tag can be also presented to a resource newly registered in a database, and a user can further readily attach a tag compared to a conventional system can be realized. It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present subject matter and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.
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G
| 60G06
| 161G06F
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7
|
00
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11923664
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US20090113553A1-20090430
|
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR HIDING INFORMATION IN THE INSTRUCTION PROCESSING PIPELINE
|
ACCEPTED
|
20090416
|
20090430
|
[]
|
G06F2100
|
["G06F2100", "H04L900"]
|
8141162
|
20071025
|
20120320
|
726
|
026000
|
65882.0
|
EL HADY
|
NABIL
|
[{"inventor_name_last": "Myles", "inventor_name_first": "Ginger Marie", "inventor_city": "San Jose", "inventor_state": "CA", "inventor_country": "US"}]
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A system, article of manufacture and method is provided for transferring secret information from a first location to a second location. The secret information is encoded and stalls in executable code are located. The executable code is configured to perform a predetermined function when executed on a pipeline processor. The encoded information is inserted into a plurality of instructions and the instructions are inserted into the executable code at the stalls. There is no net effect of all of the inserted instructions on the predetermined function of the executable code. The executable code is transferred to the second location. The location of the stalls in the transferred code is identified. The encoded information is extracted from the instructions located at the stalls. The encoded information may then be decoding information to generate the information at the second location.
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1. A method for embedding information in a computer program comprising: performing data dependency analysis on said computer program to identify locations within said computer program where pipeline processing dependencies require a stall, said locations including no-operation instructions: encoding said information; and inserting an instruction in said location, said instruction containing at least a portion of said information by dividing said information into a plurality of consecutive sections and inserting said instructions containing said consecutive sections non-consecutively into said locations within said computer program. 2. (canceled) 3. (canceled) 4. (canceled) 5. (canceled) 6. (canceled) 7. (canceled) 8. (canceled) 9. (canceled) 10. (canceled) 11. (canceled) 12. (canceled) 13. (canceled) 14. (canceled) 15. (canceled) 16. (canceled) 17. (canceled) 18. (canceled) 19. (canceled) 20. (canceled)
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<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>Steganographic and watermarking techniques have been used to hide ancillary information in many different types of media. Steganographic techniques are generally used when the purpose is to conduct some type of secret communication and stealth is critical to prevent the interception of the hidden message. Watermarking techniques are more appropriate where the primary concern is to protect the hidden information, the watermark, from damage or removal. In steganography a classic model is known as the “prisoners' problem”. One example of the prisoners' problem is a scenario where Alice and Bob are two prisoners sent to different cells. Any communication between them must go through a warden Wendy. Because the warden wants to ensure that they are not developing an escape plan, she will not allow encrypted messages or any other suspicious communication. Therefore, Alice and Bob must set up a subliminal channel to communicate their escape plan invisibly. Based on this model, steganography works as follows. When Alice wants to send a secret message to Bob she first selects a cover-object c. The cover-object is some harmless message which will not raise suspicion. She then embeds the secret message m in the cover-object to produce the stego-object s. The stego-object must be created in such a way that Wendy, knowing only the seemingly harmless message s, will not be able to detect the presence of a secret in the cover-object c. Alice then transmits the message s over an insecure channel to Bob. Once received, Bob is able to decode the message m since he knows the embedding method and their shared secret key. Steganography is useful in many applications, such as the prevention of piracy of media. When using still images, video, or audio as the cover media we are able to leverage limitations in the human visual and auditory systems. This has led to a plethora of research on digital steganography and watermarking. Unfortunately, when the cover medium is an executable program we are far more restricted as to the type of transformations we can apply. These restrictions have resulted in fewer techniques, most of which suffer from inadequate data rates and/or poor resistance to attack. In contrast to image and sound steganography very little attention has been paid to code steganography. Most of the research directed at hiding information in executables has focused on providing piracy protection and thus has taken the form of software watermarking. A number of software watermarking techniques have been developed and proposed. Some software watermarking algorithms embed the watermark through an extension to a method's control flow graph. The watermark is encoded in a subgraph which is incorporated in the original graph. In other techniques, the instruction frequencies of the original program are modified to embed the watermark. A dynamic watermarking algorithm has been proposed which embeds the watermark in the structure of the graph, built on the heap at runtime, as the program executes on a particular input. Other proposed techniques are path-based and rely on the dynamic branching behavior of the program. To embed the watermark the sequence of branches taken and not taken on a particular input are modified. An abstract interpretation framework may also be used to embed a watermark in the values assigned to integer local variables during program execution. Other techniques leverage the ability to execute blocks of code on different threads. The watermark is encoded in the choice of blocks executed on the same thread. Also, a branch function may be used which generates the watermark as the program executes. In addition to software watermarking, other techniques are aimed directly at code steganography. For example one technique draws on the inherent redundancy in the instruction set to encode a message by noting that several instructions can be expressed in more than one way. For example, adding a value x to a register can be replaced with subtracting −x from the register. By creating sets of functionally equivalent instructions, message bits can be encoded in the machine code. Two improvements on the equivalent instruction substitution technique have been proposed using alternative encoding methods. The first technique is based on the ordering of basic blocks. The chain of basic blocks is selected based on the bits to be encoded. The second technique operates on a finer granularity and relies on the ordering of the instructions within a basic block. One recent code steganography technique is suggested not as a method for transferring secret messages, but as a way to provide additional information to the processor. The information encoding is accomplished by modifying operand bits in the instruction. To ensure proper execution a look-up table is stored in the program header. Each of the above techniques has certain disadvantages such as inadequate data rates and poor resistance to attack. Accordingly, there is a need for methods and systems for providing hidden messages in executable programs which have acceptable data rates and are very resistant to attack.
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<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>To overcome the limitations in the prior art briefly described above, the present invention provides a method, computer program product, and system for hiding information in an instruction processing pipeline. In one embodiment of the present invention a method for embedding information in a computer program comprises: identifying at least one location within the computer program where pipeline processing dependencies require a stall; and inserting an instruction in the location, the instruction containing at least a portion of the information. In another embodiment of the present invention, a method of hiding information in the instruction processing pipeline of a computer program comprises: identifying at least one stall in the instruction processing pipeline; and filling the stall with an instruction that encodes a secret message, the instruction not altering the functionality of the computer program. In a further embodiment of the present invention includes an article of manufacture for use in a computer system tangibly embodying computer instructions executable by the computer system to perform process steps for transferring information from a first location to a second location the process steps comprising: encoding the information; locating stalls in executable code, the executable code being configured to perform a predetermined function when executed on a pipeline processor; inserting the encoded information into a plurality of instructions; inserting the instructions into the executable code at the stalls, there being no net effect of all of the inserted instructions on the predetermined function of the executable code; transferring the executable code to the second location; identifying the location of the stalls in the transferred executable code; extracting the encoded information from the instructions located at the stalls; and decoding the encoding information to generate the information at the second location. An additional embodiment of the present invention comprises a system for embedding a digital signature in executable code comprising: stall identifying unit for identifying the location of stalls within the executable code; and instruction insertion unit for inserting an instruction in a first of the locations, the instruction containing at least a first portion of a digital signature. Various advantages and features of novelty, which characterize the present invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and form a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention and its advantages, reference should be made to the accompanying descriptive matter together with the corresponding drawings which form a further part hereof, in which there is described and illustrated specific examples in accordance with the present invention.
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FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention generally relates to computer implemented steganographic and watermarking techniques, and particularly to methods and systems for encoding secret information in arbitrary program binaries. BACKGROUND Steganographic and watermarking techniques have been used to hide ancillary information in many different types of media. Steganographic techniques are generally used when the purpose is to conduct some type of secret communication and stealth is critical to prevent the interception of the hidden message. Watermarking techniques are more appropriate where the primary concern is to protect the hidden information, the watermark, from damage or removal. In steganography a classic model is known as the “prisoners' problem”. One example of the prisoners' problem is a scenario where Alice and Bob are two prisoners sent to different cells. Any communication between them must go through a warden Wendy. Because the warden wants to ensure that they are not developing an escape plan, she will not allow encrypted messages or any other suspicious communication. Therefore, Alice and Bob must set up a subliminal channel to communicate their escape plan invisibly. Based on this model, steganography works as follows. When Alice wants to send a secret message to Bob she first selects a cover-object c. The cover-object is some harmless message which will not raise suspicion. She then embeds the secret message m in the cover-object to produce the stego-object s. The stego-object must be created in such a way that Wendy, knowing only the seemingly harmless message s, will not be able to detect the presence of a secret in the cover-object c. Alice then transmits the message s over an insecure channel to Bob. Once received, Bob is able to decode the message m since he knows the embedding method and their shared secret key. Steganography is useful in many applications, such as the prevention of piracy of media. When using still images, video, or audio as the cover media we are able to leverage limitations in the human visual and auditory systems. This has led to a plethora of research on digital steganography and watermarking. Unfortunately, when the cover medium is an executable program we are far more restricted as to the type of transformations we can apply. These restrictions have resulted in fewer techniques, most of which suffer from inadequate data rates and/or poor resistance to attack. In contrast to image and sound steganography very little attention has been paid to code steganography. Most of the research directed at hiding information in executables has focused on providing piracy protection and thus has taken the form of software watermarking. A number of software watermarking techniques have been developed and proposed. Some software watermarking algorithms embed the watermark through an extension to a method's control flow graph. The watermark is encoded in a subgraph which is incorporated in the original graph. In other techniques, the instruction frequencies of the original program are modified to embed the watermark. A dynamic watermarking algorithm has been proposed which embeds the watermark in the structure of the graph, built on the heap at runtime, as the program executes on a particular input. Other proposed techniques are path-based and rely on the dynamic branching behavior of the program. To embed the watermark the sequence of branches taken and not taken on a particular input are modified. An abstract interpretation framework may also be used to embed a watermark in the values assigned to integer local variables during program execution. Other techniques leverage the ability to execute blocks of code on different threads. The watermark is encoded in the choice of blocks executed on the same thread. Also, a branch function may be used which generates the watermark as the program executes. In addition to software watermarking, other techniques are aimed directly at code steganography. For example one technique draws on the inherent redundancy in the instruction set to encode a message by noting that several instructions can be expressed in more than one way. For example, adding a value x to a register can be replaced with subtracting −x from the register. By creating sets of functionally equivalent instructions, message bits can be encoded in the machine code. Two improvements on the equivalent instruction substitution technique have been proposed using alternative encoding methods. The first technique is based on the ordering of basic blocks. The chain of basic blocks is selected based on the bits to be encoded. The second technique operates on a finer granularity and relies on the ordering of the instructions within a basic block. One recent code steganography technique is suggested not as a method for transferring secret messages, but as a way to provide additional information to the processor. The information encoding is accomplished by modifying operand bits in the instruction. To ensure proper execution a look-up table is stored in the program header. Each of the above techniques has certain disadvantages such as inadequate data rates and poor resistance to attack. Accordingly, there is a need for methods and systems for providing hidden messages in executable programs which have acceptable data rates and are very resistant to attack. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To overcome the limitations in the prior art briefly described above, the present invention provides a method, computer program product, and system for hiding information in an instruction processing pipeline. In one embodiment of the present invention a method for embedding information in a computer program comprises: identifying at least one location within the computer program where pipeline processing dependencies require a stall; and inserting an instruction in the location, the instruction containing at least a portion of the information. In another embodiment of the present invention, a method of hiding information in the instruction processing pipeline of a computer program comprises: identifying at least one stall in the instruction processing pipeline; and filling the stall with an instruction that encodes a secret message, the instruction not altering the functionality of the computer program. In a further embodiment of the present invention includes an article of manufacture for use in a computer system tangibly embodying computer instructions executable by the computer system to perform process steps for transferring information from a first location to a second location the process steps comprising: encoding the information; locating stalls in executable code, the executable code being configured to perform a predetermined function when executed on a pipeline processor; inserting the encoded information into a plurality of instructions; inserting the instructions into the executable code at the stalls, there being no net effect of all of the inserted instructions on the predetermined function of the executable code; transferring the executable code to the second location; identifying the location of the stalls in the transferred executable code; extracting the encoded information from the instructions located at the stalls; and decoding the encoding information to generate the information at the second location. An additional embodiment of the present invention comprises a system for embedding a digital signature in executable code comprising: stall identifying unit for identifying the location of stalls within the executable code; and instruction insertion unit for inserting an instruction in a first of the locations, the instruction containing at least a first portion of a digital signature. Various advantages and features of novelty, which characterize the present invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and form a part hereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention and its advantages, reference should be made to the accompanying descriptive matter together with the corresponding drawings which form a further part hereof, in which there is described and illustrated specific examples in accordance with the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is described in conjunction with the appended drawings, where like reference numbers denote the same element throughout the set of drawings: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a typical computer system wherein the present invention may be practiced; FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a system for embedding a message in executable code in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a method of embedding a message in executable code in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a system for extracting the message embedded in the system shown in FIG. 2 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of a method of extracting a message from executable code in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the problems associated with the prior art by teaching a system, computer program product, and method for hiding information in an instruction processing pipeline. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize, however, that the teachings contained herein may be applied to other embodiments and that the present invention may be practiced apart from these specific details. Accordingly, the present invention should not be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described and claimed herein. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. The various elements and embodiments of invention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. In a preferred embodiment, the invention may be implemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. Furthermore, the invention can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD. A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing program code will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution. Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers. Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system 100, in which teachings of the present invention may be embodied. The computer system 100 comprises one or more central processing units (CPUs) 102, 103, and 104. The CPUs 102-104 suitably operate together in concert with memory 110 in order to execute a variety of tasks. In accordance with techniques known in the art, numerous other components may be utilized with computer system 100, such a input/output devices comprising keyboards, displays, direct access storage devices (DASDs), printers, tapes, etc. (not shown). Although the present invention is described in a particular hardware embodiment, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize and appreciate that this is meant to be illustrative and not restrictive of the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will further appreciate that a wide range of computers and computing system configurations can be used to support the methods of the present invention, including, for example, configurations encompassing multiple systems, the internet, and distributed networks. Accordingly, the teachings contained herein should be viewed as highly “scalable”, meaning that they are adaptable to implementation on one, or several thousand, computer systems. The present invention provides a system and method of hiding information in an instruction processing pipeline. In particular, the present invention hides information in arbitrary program binaries. This is done by identifying stalls in the instruction processing pipeline. Instead of filling these stalls with no operation (nop) instructions the stalls are filled with instructions which will not adversely alter the functionality of the program, but which encode a hidden message. The present invention can be used for secret communication or for watermarking/fingerprinting. It can also be used for encoding a digital signature of the executable code. The present invention, in one embodiment, is a code steganographic technique that takes a message and an executable as input, and outputs a semantically equivalent executable which contains the secret message. To accomplish this, the present invention may analyze how the executable's instruction sequence would be processed in the instruction processing pipeline. The present invention takes advantage of the manner in which the executable's instruction sequence is processed. Due to data dependencies between instructions it is not always possible to maintain a completely full instruction pipeline. These dependencies result in instruction stalls, often referred to as bubbles in the pipeline. Until the dependency can be resolved, the processing of a new instruction is stalled for x time units. The stall is generally accomplished by inserting x nops in the instruction sequence. In accordance with the present invention, message encoding occurs by replacing those nop instructions with instructions that will not adversely alter the functionality of the program. Each instruction substitution may then represent a single bit, or some piece, of the secret message. In one embodiment the present invention may be employed on Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages (MIPS) Executable and Linking Format (ELF) executables. However, the principles of the present invention may be applicable to any pipeline architecture. The MIPS architecture is a useful example due to the relative simplicity of the instruction pipeline processing and the fixed length instruction set, which makes binary rewriting easier. The embedding process itself is aided by the analysis that is normally performed during compilation. That is, when a program is compiled instruction scheduling analysis is performed, which identifies data dependencies. Depending on the specific level of optimization, when a dependency is found different actions take place. For an application compiled with optimization disabled, identification of a dependency results in the insertion of one or more nops in the instruction sequence. When optimization is enabled the compiler tries to reorder the instructions. Then if reordering fails the fall back is nop insertion. As a result, the embedding process of the present invention may not require data dependency analysis, although it is possible to employ data dependency analysis as part of the embedding process. With nops already inserted as part of the conventional data dependence, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the instruction sequence may be scanned for nop instructions. When a nop is found it may be replaced with an instruction corresponding to the current message bit. The inserted instruction may be selected from an instruction codebook which may be constructed and shared with the intended message recipient prior to beginning the secret communication. Alternatively, the method for constructing the instruction codebook may be shared with the recipient prior to the secret communication. FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a message embedding system 200 for embedding information into an instruction processing pipeline in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Executable code 202 is received by a message embedder 204. The message embedder 204 uses a stall locater module 206 for finding all the stalls in the code. In cases where dependency analysis has been done, the stall locator simply needs to locate the nops. In situations where the dependency analysis has not been done, the stall locator may do this analysis first before locating the stalls. A secret message 208 is received by a message encoder 210, which converts the message into a form that is suitable for insertion into the executable code 202. For example, the message may be in human readable form, and the message encoder 210 may converts it into an encoded digital representation. In some embodiments, this encoded message may be encrypted using conventional encryption techniques. The encoded message is then received by the message embedder 204 where an insertion module 212 inserts the encoded message into the executable code in the locations where the nops were located. In particular, the nops are removed and an instruction containing the encoded message is inserted in its place. Generally, it will take several nops to represent the entire encoded message, so the insertion module 212 will separate the encoded message into sections that will be inserted into multiple nop locations. The result will be a version of the executable code 214 that performs the same as the original executable code 202, but now contains the hidden message. 208. In should be noted that the insertion module 212 will insert instructions, which include parts of the encoded message, which will take the place of the nop instructions. The inserted instructions will be constructed so that they will have the same effect as a nop; that is, they will occupy one execution cycle without performing any operation. Alternatively, an inserted encoded message may comprise an instruction that actually does perform some operation, but a subsequent instruction will undo that operation so there will be no net effect. This approach may be preferred in some instances because it may make it more difficult for an unauthorized person to detect the locations of the instructions containing the encoded message. FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a process 300 for embedding a message in executable code in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In step 302 the secret encoded message and the executable code are received, for example, by the message embedder 204. In step 304 the first and subsequent instructions are selected one at a time. Step 306 determines if a stall exists at this instruction. As discussed above, where dependency analysis has already been performed, this step may simply comprise determining if the selected instruction is a nop instruction. If it is not, the process returns to step 304 and the next instruction is selected. If step 306 determines that the instruction is a stall, the process moves to step 308, which looks at the code book and at the message to determine which instruction to put in that location in the place of the nop. In step 310 the proper instruction message containing the correct portion of the secret message is inserted into the executable code. Step 312 then determines if the entire message has been embedded. If not, the process returns to step 304 and the next instruction is selected. If the entire message has been embedded then step 314 outputs the semantically equivalent, executable code containing the encoded message. In many steganographic techniques it is often common to assume what is called a passive warden. This means that any person serving as an intermediary in the message exchange will read the message and possibly prevent it from being exchanged, but will not attempt to modify it. Because of this assumption, we can use a static embedding technique (one that only uses information statically available). Therefore, one possible method for selecting the nops is simply to replace them in the order that they appear in the executable. However, in some applications, for example, where the present invention is used for watermarking purposes code modification attacks are a concern. Hence, in such applications a dynamic embedding technique may be preferred. One dynamic embedding technique that may be employed is to replace those nop instructions which reside on a particular execution path through the program instead of in the order that they appear in the executable. In this case, the program would be executed using a particular input sequence prior to embedding the secret message. As the program executes, the path through the program is recorded. Then, instead of selecting instruction as they appear in the static executable, we select instructions along the identified path through the program. To extract the watermark, the receiver will use the same input sequence to identify the path through the program. Then the message will be extracted from the instructions along that path. Since the embedded instructions are now linked to program execution it is more difficult to rearrange them. One of the keys to dynamic watermarking is that the input sequence used should remain secret; it basically serves the same purpose as a secret key in cryptography. Only the sender and the receiver should know the secret input sequence. FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a message extraction system 400 in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The executable code 402 with the secret encoded message embedded therein is received by a message extractor 402. Executable code 402 may comprise the executable code 214 with the embedded message shown in FIG. 2. Message locator module 406 will determine the location of the instructions containing the secret message. For example, message locator module 406 may do this by using information from a previously provided code book (not shown). The codebook may contain a list of all instructions used to encode part of the secret message and the value the instruction represents. For example, it could be comprised of (1) add eax, 0 represents 0 and (2) mul eax, 1 represents 1. Then each time the receiver saw one of these instructions in the executable he would check to see if it represented a stall, if so then he found a bit of the message. Without the codebook the receiver would not know which instructions could be part of the code or what value the instruction represented. Extraction module 408 will next extract the message elements contained in each instruction found by the message locator module and assemble them into an encoded message. A message decoder 410 will then decode the message and generate the original message 412, which may be, in machine-readable or human-readable form. The message decoder 410 may use a conventional decryption technique that corresponds to the encryption technique used by the encoder 210 shown in FIG. 2. The executable code 414 has not been functionally altered by the message extraction system 400, so it may continue to be used for its original purpose, or may be used again to encode another secret message in accordance with the above-described techniques. It may be noted that with information hiding techniques, it is harder to get the information out then it is to put it in. To extract the message the message locator 406 may simply scan the message looking for instructions which are known to represent bits of the message. This knowledge may come from the previously provided code book. However, it is possible that this technique could result in extraneous bits. To provide a more accurate message recovery, some embodiments of the invention may perform some data dependency analysis. That is, the message locator 406 may check to see if the removal of an identified instruction would result in a pipeline stall. If so, then the message extraction system 400 will decode the instruction to its corresponding bit, otherwise it will ignore the instruction. An important parameter associated with code steganography techniques relates to the potential data rate. The resulting data rate achieved by the present invention will be determined by the number of stalls in the pipeline. Hence, it will be useful to analyze the executable code to determine the number of stalls available to receive parts of the secret message. In some cases this may be done by counting the number of nops and using this information to calculate a potential data rate. FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of a process 500 for extracting a message in executable code in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In step 502 the executable code containing the embedded secret encoded message is received, for example, by the message extractor 404. In step 504 the first and subsequent instructions are selected one at a time. Step 506 determines if the selected instruction is an instruction that represents bits of the secret message. This may be done for example, by determining if the instruction corresponds to information given in the code book. If it is not, the process returns to step 504 and the next instruction is selected. If step 506 determines that the instruction represents bits of the secret message, the process may optionally moves to step 508, which may perform data dependency analysis. For example this step may involve a check to determine if the removal of an identified instruction would result in a pipeline stall. If removal would result in pipeline stall there is a greater degree of certainty that the instruction contains parts of the secret message. In some embodiments, step 508 may be skipped; however, there is a greater chance of extraneous bits being included with the secret message. In step 510 the instruction is added to the secret message. Step 512 then determines if the last instruction has been analyzed. If not, the process returns to step 504 and the next instruction is selected. Once all the instructions have been processed then step 514 decodes the message using information from the code book. The decided message is then output for reading in step 516. In addition to using the present invention for secret communication or for watermarking/fingerprinting, the present invention can also be used for encoding a digital signature of executable code. This can be done by computing the signature with the nop instruction in place and encoding the signature in the executable. One way to verify the signature is to extract the signature from the code, replace the message contributing instructions with nop instructions, compute the signature for the executable, and verify. For fixed length instruction sets this has the advantage of digital signature protection without an increase in executable size. In accordance with the present invention, we have disclosed systems and methods for encoding information in an instruction processing pipeline. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the teachings contained herein can be implemented in many applications in addition to those discussed above where there is a need for secret communication, watermarking, fingerprinting and digital signatures. References in the claims to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the above-described exemplary embodiment that are currently known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. No clam element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. section 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or “step for.” While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it will be understood that modifications and adaptations to the embodiments shown may occur to one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims. Thus, the scope of this invention is to be construed according to the appended claims and not limited by the specific details disclosed in the exemplary embodiments.
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G
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21
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00
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11841611
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US20090055583A1-20090226
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STORING REDUNDANT SEGMENTS AND PARITY INFORMATION FOR SEGMENTED LOGICAL VOLUMES
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ACCEPTED
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20090212
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20090226
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[]
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G06F1216
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["G06F1216", "G06F1200", "G06F1300"]
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7877544
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20070820
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20110125
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711
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114000
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68066.0
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DAVIDSON
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CHAD
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[{"inventor_name_last": "Kishi", "inventor_name_first": "Gregory Tad", "inventor_city": "Oro Valley", "inventor_state": "AZ", "inventor_country": "US"}]
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Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture, wherein a storage manager application implemented in a first computational device maintains a virtual logical volume that has a plurality of segments created by the storage manager application. At least one additional copy of at least one of the plurality of segments is maintained in at least one linear storage medium of a secondary storage. A request for data is received, at the first computational device, from a second computational device. At least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy are used to respond to the received request for data.
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1. A method, comprising: maintaining, by a storage manager application implemented in a first computational device a virtual logical volume having a plurality of segments created by the storage manager application; maintaining at least one additional copy of at least one of the plurality of segments in at least one linear storage medium of a secondary storage; receiving a request for data, at the first computational device, from a second computational device; and using at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy to respond to the received request for data. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: maintaining parity information in association with the plurality of segments; using the parity information, in addition to the at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy, to respond to the request for data. 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: storing the parity information of a group of segments of the plurality of segments in a separate segment. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein recall efficiency for the data is increased by maintaining the at least one additional copy of the at least one of the plurality of segments in the at least one linear storage medium of the secondary storage. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first computational device is a virtual tape server; wherein the second computational device is a host; wherein a cache storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a disk device; wherein a secondary storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a tape device; and wherein the linear storage medium is a tape in the tape device. 6. A system, comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor performs operations, the operations comprising: (i) maintaining, by a storage manager application implemented in a first computational device a virtual logical volume having a plurality of segments created by the storage manager application; (ii) maintaining at least one additional copy of at least one of the plurality of segments in at least one linear storage medium of a secondary storage; (iii) receiving a request for data, at the first computational device, from a second computational device; and (iv) using at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy to respond to the received request for data. 7. The system of claim 6, the operations further comprising: maintaining parity information in association with the plurality of segments; using the parity information, in addition to the at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy, to respond to the request for data. 8. The system of claim 7, the operations further comprising: storing the parity information of a group of segments of the plurality of segments in a separate segment. 9. The system of claim 6, wherein recall efficiency for the data is increased by maintaining the at least one additional copy of the at least one of the plurality of segments in the at least one linear storage medium of the secondary storage. 10. The system of claim 6, wherein the first computational device is a virtual tape server; wherein the second computational device is a host; wherein a cache storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a disk device; wherein a secondary storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a tape device; and wherein the linear storage medium is a tape in the tape device. 11. An article of manufacture including code, wherein the code when executed by a machine causes operations to be performed, the operations comprising: maintaining, by a storage manager application implemented in a first computational device a virtual logical volume having a plurality of segments created by the storage manager application; maintaining at least one additional copy of at least one of the plurality of segments in at least one linear storage medium of a secondary storage; receiving a request for data, at the first computational device, from a second computational device; and using at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy to respond to the received request for data. 12. The article of manufacture of claim 11, the operations further comprising: maintaining parity information in association with the plurality of segments; using the parity information, in addition to the at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy, to respond to the request for data. 13. The article of manufacture of claim 12, the operations further comprising: storing the parity information of a group of segments of the plurality of segments in a separate segment. 14. The article of manufacture of claim 11, wherein recall efficiency for the data is increased by maintaining the at least one additional copy of the at least one of the plurality of segments in the at least one linear storage medium of the secondary storage. 15. The article of manufacture of claim 11, wherein the first computational device is a virtual tape server; wherein the second computational device is a host; wherein a cache storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a disk device; wherein a secondary storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a tape device; and wherein the linear storage medium is a tape in the tape device. 16. A method for deploying computing infrastructure, comprising integrating computer-readable code into a first computational device, wherein the code in combination with the first computational device is capable of performing: maintaining, by a storage manager application implemented in the first computational device a virtual logical volume having a plurality of segments created by the storage manager application; maintaining at least one additional copy of at least one of the plurality of segments in at least one linear storage medium of a secondary storage; receiving a request for data, at the first computational device, from a second computational device; and using at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy to respond to the received request for data. 17. The method for deploying computing infrastructure of claim 16, wherein the code in combination with the first computational device is further capable of performing: maintaining parity information in association with the plurality of segments; using the parity information, in addition to the at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy, to respond to the request for data. 18. The method for deploying computing infrastructure of claim 17, wherein the code in combination with the first computational device is further capable of performing: storing the parity information of a group of segments of the plurality of segments in a separate segment. 19. The method for deploying computing infrastructure of claim 16, wherein recall efficiency for the data is increased by maintaining the at least one additional copy of the at least one of the plurality of segments in the at least one linear storage medium of the secondary storage. 20. The method for deploying computing infrastructure of claim 16, wherein the first computational device is a virtual tape server; wherein the second computational device is a host; wherein a cache storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a disk device; wherein a secondary storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a tape device; and wherein the linear storage medium is a tape in the tape device.
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<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>1. Field The disclosure relates to a method, system, and article of manufacture for storing redundant segments and parity information for segmented logical volumes. 2. Background In certain virtual tape storage systems, hard disk drive storage may be used to emulate tape drives and tape cartridges. For instance, host systems may perform input/output (I/O) operations with respect to a tape library by performing I/O operations with respect to a set of hard disk drives that emulate the tape library. In certain virtual tape storage systems at least one virtual tape server (VTS) is coupled to a tape library comprising numerous tape drives and tape cartridges. The VTS is also coupled to a direct access storage device (DASD), comprised of numerous interconnected hard disk drives. The DASD functions as a cache to volumes in the tape library. In VTS operations, the VTS processes the host's requests to access a volume in the tape library and returns data for such requests, if possible, from the cache. If the volume is not in the cache, then the VTS recalls the volume from the tape library to the cache, i.e., the VTS transfers data from the tape library to the cache. The VTS can respond to host requests for volumes that are present in the cache substantially faster than requests for volumes that have to be recalled from the tape library to the cache. However, since the capacity of the cache is relatively small when compared to the capacity of the tape library, not all volumes can be kept in the cache. Hence, the VTS may migrate volumes from the cache to the tape library, i.e., the VTS may transfer data from the cache to the tape cartridges in the tape library.
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<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS <EOH>Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture, wherein a storage manager application implemented in a first computational device maintains a virtual logical volume that has a plurality of segments created by the storage manager application. At least one additional copy of at least one of the plurality of segments is maintained in at least one linear storage medium of a secondary storage. A request for data is received, at the first computational device, from a second computational device. At least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy are used to respond to the received request for data. In further embodiments, parity information is maintained in association with the plurality of segments. The parity information is used, in addition to the at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy, to respond to the request for data. In yet further embodiments, the parity information of a group of segments of the plurality of segments is stored in a separate segment. In additional embodiments, recall efficiency for the data is increased by maintaining the at least one additional copy of the at least one of the plurality of segments in the at least one linear storage medium of the secondary storage. In yet additional embodiments, the first computational device is a virtual tape server and the second computational device is a host, wherein a cache storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a disk device, wherein a secondary storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a tape device, and wherein the linear storage medium is a tape in the tape device.
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BACKGROUND 1. Field The disclosure relates to a method, system, and article of manufacture for storing redundant segments and parity information for segmented logical volumes. 2. Background In certain virtual tape storage systems, hard disk drive storage may be used to emulate tape drives and tape cartridges. For instance, host systems may perform input/output (I/O) operations with respect to a tape library by performing I/O operations with respect to a set of hard disk drives that emulate the tape library. In certain virtual tape storage systems at least one virtual tape server (VTS) is coupled to a tape library comprising numerous tape drives and tape cartridges. The VTS is also coupled to a direct access storage device (DASD), comprised of numerous interconnected hard disk drives. The DASD functions as a cache to volumes in the tape library. In VTS operations, the VTS processes the host's requests to access a volume in the tape library and returns data for such requests, if possible, from the cache. If the volume is not in the cache, then the VTS recalls the volume from the tape library to the cache, i.e., the VTS transfers data from the tape library to the cache. The VTS can respond to host requests for volumes that are present in the cache substantially faster than requests for volumes that have to be recalled from the tape library to the cache. However, since the capacity of the cache is relatively small when compared to the capacity of the tape library, not all volumes can be kept in the cache. Hence, the VTS may migrate volumes from the cache to the tape library, i.e., the VTS may transfer data from the cache to the tape cartridges in the tape library. SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Provided are a method, system, and article of manufacture, wherein a storage manager application implemented in a first computational device maintains a virtual logical volume that has a plurality of segments created by the storage manager application. At least one additional copy of at least one of the plurality of segments is maintained in at least one linear storage medium of a secondary storage. A request for data is received, at the first computational device, from a second computational device. At least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy are used to respond to the received request for data. In further embodiments, parity information is maintained in association with the plurality of segments. The parity information is used, in addition to the at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy, to respond to the request for data. In yet further embodiments, the parity information of a group of segments of the plurality of segments is stored in a separate segment. In additional embodiments, recall efficiency for the data is increased by maintaining the at least one additional copy of the at least one of the plurality of segments in the at least one linear storage medium of the secondary storage. In yet additional embodiments, the first computational device is a virtual tape server and the second computational device is a host, wherein a cache storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a disk device, wherein a secondary storage coupled to the virtual tape server is implemented in a tape device, and wherein the linear storage medium is a tape in the tape device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers represent corresponding parts throughout: FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computing environment, in accordance with certain embodiments; FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of representations of a virtual logical volume in accordance with certain embodiments; FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram that shows a first exemplary mapping of the segments of an exemplary virtual logical volume to exemplary tapes of a secondary storage, in accordance with certain embodiments; FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram that shows a second exemplary mapping of the segments of an exemplary virtual logical volume to exemplary tapes of a secondary storage, in accordance with certain embodiments; FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram that shows a third exemplary mapping of the segments of an exemplary virtual logical volume to exemplary tapes of a secondary storage, in accordance with certain embodiments; FIG. 6 illustrates operations implemented in the computing environment, in accordance with certain embodiments; and FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a computer architecture in which certain described aspects of the embodiments are implemented. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and which illustrate several embodiments. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and operational changes may be made. Handling Logical Volumes a Single Entity In certain VTS systems, logical volumes are handled as a single entity. However, when the size of physical volumes corresponding to logical volumes becomes very large, such as in Linear Tape Open (LTO) drives, all data included in logical volumes may not be accommodated at the same time in the cache storage. Additionally, transfer operations of large logical volumes from the secondary storage to the cache storage may take a significantly greater amount of time in comparison to small logical volumes. The recall times for data may become excessively large in situations where logical volumes are handled as a single entity for transfer to the cache storage from the secondary storage in a VTS environment. Exemplary Embodiments Certain embodiments provide for the segmentation of virtual logical volumes in a VTS environment comprising a VTS that is coupled to a cache storage and a secondary storage, wherein the segmented virtual logical volumes are used to respond to data requests from a host. In certain embodiments the segments corresponding to the virtual logical volume are distributed among a plurality of tapes, wherein redundant segments are also stored in at least one or more of the plurality of tapes for recall efficiency, and wherein parity segments may also be stored in at least one or more of the plurality of tapes for further data redundancy. If a recall of a segmented virtual logical volume fails because of bad data on a certain tape, then the redundant and/or parity segments stored in one or more other tapes may be used for data recovery. It should be noted that by distributing segments corresponding to the virtual logical volume in a plurality of tapes, by storing additional copies of segments, and by storing parity data, both recall efficiency and data redundancy may be achieved. In certain embodiments fully redundant write of data segments onto tape is not performed. In such embodiments, parity provides the data protection redundancy, whereas the redundant segments provide recall efficiency by permitting fewer tapes to be mounted for responding to a request for data. FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computing environment 100, in accordance with certain embodiments. The computing environment 100 includes a VTS 102. Additional VTSs can be deployed, but for purposes of illustration, a single VTS 102 is shown. In certain exemplary embodiments the VTS 102 may comprise a server computational device and may include any operating system known in the art. However, in alternative embodiments the VTS 102 may comprise any suitable computational device, such as a personal computer, a workstation, mainframe, a hand held computer, a palm top computer, a telephony device, network appliance, etc. The VTS 102 may be referred to as a first computational device 102. The computing environment 100 also includes a host 104 that is coupled to the VTS 102. Additional hosts may be deployed, but for purposes of illustration, a single host 104 is shown. The host 104 may be may coupled to the VTS 102 through a host data interface channel or any other direct connection or switching mechanism, known in the art (e.g., fibre channel, Storage Area Network (SAN) interconnections, etc.). The host 104 may be any suitable computational device known in the art, such as a personal computer, a workstation, a server, a mainframe, a hand held computer, a palm top computer, a telephony device, network appliance, etc. The VTS 102 includes at least one application, such as a storage manager application 106 that manages storage. The storage manager application 106 may be implemented either as a standalone application or as a part of one or more other applications. The storage manager application 106 manages a cache storage 108, such as a disk based storage system, and a secondary storage 110 comprising a plurality of linear storage media 112a, 112b, . . . , 112n, wherein in certain embodiments the linear storage media may comprise tapes. The cache storage 108 and the secondary storage 110 are coupled to the VTS 102 via a direct connection or via a network connection. The cache storage 108 improves performance by allowing host I/O requests from the hosts 104 to the secondary storage 110 to be serviced from the faster access cache storage 108 as opposed to the slower access secondary storage 110. The disks in the cache storage 108 may be arranged as a Direct Access Storage Device (DASD), Just a Bunch of Disks (JBOD), Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID), etc. The storage manager application 106 may perform or manage the data movement operations between the host 104, the cache storage 108, and the secondary storage 110. The storage manager application 106 generates virtual logical volumes 114, wherein virtual logical volumes 114 are logical representations of data stored in cache storage 108 and the secondary storage 110. The storage manager application 106 maps the data stored in the cache storage 108 and secondary storage 110 to a plurality of virtual logical volumes 114. The hosts 104 perform I/O operations by using the virtual logical volumes 114 via the VTS 102. The storage manager application 106 maps the virtual logical volumes 114 to the linear storage media 112a . . . 112n of the secondary storage 110. In certain embodiments, the storage manager application 106 maps segments of an exemplary virtual logical volume to corresponding segments 116a, 116b, . . . 116n in the linear storage media 112a . . . 112n, and also creates additional segments 118a, 118b, . . . 118n and parity segments 120a,120b, . . . 120n in the linear storage media 112a . . . 112n. An additional segment stored on a linear storage medium may comprise a copy of a segment stored on another linear storage medium. For example, an additional segment 118a stored on linear storage medium 112a may in certain embodiments comprise a copy of one of the segments 116b stored in the linear storage medium 112b. A parity segment stores the parity corresponding to a plurality of segments. For example, in certain embodiments the parity segment 120a may store the parity data generated from segment 116b and 116n. While FIG. 1 shows additional segments and parity segments on each of the linear storage media 112a, 112b, 112n, in alternative embodiments one or more of the linear storage media may lack additional segments or parity segments. In certain embodiments the storage manager application 106 implemented in the first computational device 102 maintains a virtual logical volume 114 that has a plurality of segments created by the storage manager application 106. At least one additional copy 118a of at least one of the plurality of segments is maintained in at least one linear storage medium 112a of a secondary storage 110. A request for data is received, at the first computational device 102, from a second computational device 104. At least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy 11 8a are used to respond to the received request for data. In further embodiments, parity information is maintained in parity segments associated with the plurality of segments in the secondary storage 110. The parity information stored in a parity segment, such as parity segment 120b, may be used, in addition to the at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy 118a, to respond to the request for data. FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary representation of a virtual logical volume in accordance with certain embodiments that may be implemented in the computing environment 100. One representation 200 of the virtual logical volume 114 of FIG. 1 may comprise a plurality of segments 202a, 202b, 202c, . . . 202n, wherein a segment is a unit of data storage. A greater or a fewer number of segments than shown in FIG. 2 may be implemented in certain embodiments. In certain embodiments, the segments 202a, 202b, 202c, . . . , 202n of the virtual logical volumes 114 are stored in the linear storage media 112a . . . 112n of the secondary storage 110, along with the additional segments 118a . . . 118n and the parity segments 120a . . . 120n. FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram that shows a first exemplary mapping 300 of the segments of an exemplary virtual logical volume 302 to exemplary tapes of an exemplary secondary storage 304, in accordance with certain embodiments. The first exemplary mapping 300 is shown for illustrative purposes only and other exemplary mappings including those that are described elsewhere in this disclosure may be used in alternative embodiments. In FIG. 3, the exemplary virtual logical volume 302 is comprised of three segments referred to as segment A 306, segment B 308, and segment C 310. In an exemplary embodiment, the three segments 306, 308, 310 are stored by the storage manager application 106 in an exemplary first tape 312, an exemplary second tape 314 and an exemplary third tape 316 as shown. The storage manager application 106 stores in the exemplary first tape 312 the segment A 306, a copy 318 of segment B 308, and a parity segment 320 that may comprise parity data computed from some or all of the plurality of segments 306, 308, 310. The storage manager application 106 further stores in the exemplary second tape 314 the segment B 308, a copy 322 of segment C 310, and a parity segment 324 that may comprise parity data computed from some or all of the plurality of segments 306, 308, 310. The storage manager application 106 also stores in the exemplary third tape 316 the segment C 310, a copy 326 of segment A 306, and a parity segment 328 that may comprise parity data computed from some or all of the plurality of segments 306, 308, 310. In certain embodiments one or more the exemplary tapes 312, 314, 316 may be mounted for recalling data stored in the segments 306, 308, 310 of the virtual logical volume 302. By storing additional copies 318, 322, 326 recall efficiency is increased in comparison to embodiments where additional copies are not stored in the tapes. For example, in FIG. 3, mounting any two of the three tapes 312, 314, 316 is adequate for recalling all segments 306, 308, 310 of the virtual logical volume 302 even when no parity segments are stored. Also, all segments 306, 308, 310 may be recalled by mounting the exemplary first tape 312 and the exemplary third tape 316 even when no parity segments are stored. In certain embodiments where a tape is defective, the parity segments stored in the tapes that are not defective may be used to recover data. In FIG. 2, recall efficiency of the virtual logical volume 302 is increased by storing the copies 318, 322, 324. As a result of storing the copies 318, 322, 324, two tapes (instead of three) are adequate to recall all the segments 306, 308, 310. Additionally, even if a tape is defective, the data corresponding to the virtual logical volume 302 can be recalled from the other two tapes. The parity data provides further data protection in case of loss of a tape. FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram that shows a second exemplary mapping 400 of the segments “ABCDEF” 402a of an exemplary virtual logical volume 402 to exemplary tapes 404a, 404b, 404c, 404d of an exemplary secondary storage 404, in accordance with certain embodiments. In the second exemplary mapping 400, duplicative segments (i.e. copies of segments) are not present in the tapes. The storage manager application 106 stores segments and parity on the tapes 404a, 404b, 404c, 404d as follows: (1) First Tape (reference numeral 404a) stores segment A (reference numeral 406) and segment D (reference numeral 408); (2) Second tape (reference numeral 404b) stores segment B (reference numeral 410) and segment E (reference numeral 412); (3) Third tape (reference numeral 404c) stores segment C (reference numeral 414) and segment F (reference numeral 416); and (4) Fourth tape (reference numeral 404d) stores parity segment P(ABC) (reference numeral 418) and parity segment P(DEF) (reference numeral 420), wherein P(ABC) (reference numeral 418) is a parity segment that stores the parity data corresponding to segments A, B,C, and P(DEF) is a parity segment that stores the parity data corresponding to segments D, E, F. The storage manager application 106 may need to mount the first tape 404a, second tape 404b, and third tape 404c to recall data corresponding to the virtual logical volume 404. The fourth tape 404d may be mounted if one of the first, second, and third tape 404a, 404b, 404c is defective. FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram that shows a third exemplary mapping 500 of the segments “ABCDEF” 502a of an exemplary virtual logical volume 502 to exemplary tapes 504a, 504b, 504c, 504d of an exemplary secondary storage 504, in accordance with certain embodiments. In the second exemplary mapping 500, duplicative segments (i.e. copies of segments) are present in the tapes. The storage manager application 106 stores segments and parity information on the tapes 504a, 504b, 504c, 504d as follows: (1) First Tape (reference numeral 504a) stores segment A (reference numeral 506), segment D (reference numeral 508), and segment C (reference numeral 510); (2) Second tape (reference numeral 504b) stores segment B (reference numeral 512), segment E (reference numeral 514), and segment F (reference numeral 516); (3) Third tape (reference numeral 504c) stores segment C (reference numeral 518) and segment F (reference numeral 520); and (4) Fourth tape (reference numeral 504d) stores parity segment P(ABC) (reference numeral 522) and parity segment P(DEF) (reference numeral 524), wherein P(ABC) (reference numeral 522) is a parity segment that stores the parity data corresponding to segments A, B, C, and P(DEF) (reference numeral 524) is a parity segment that stores the parity data corresponding to segments D, E, F. In FIG. 5, the storage manager application 106 may need to mount the first tape 504a and the second tape 504b to recall data corresponding to the virtual logical volume 404. One or more of the other tapes 504c, 504d may have to be mounted if either the first tape 504a or the second tape 504b is defective. In the embodiment described in FIG. 5, by storing the segments of the virtual logical volume redundantly, e.g., by storing segment C is both the first tape 504a and the third tape 504c, recall efficiency is increased in comparison to the embodiment described in FIG. 4 where the segments of the virtual logical volume are not stored redundantly. FIG. 6 illustrates operations implemented in the computing environment 100, in accordance with certain embodiments. In certain embodiments, the operations may be performed by the storage manager application 106 implemented in the first computational device 102. Control starts at block 600, where the storage manager application 106, implemented in the first computational device 102 maintains a virtual logical volume 114 having a plurality of segments created by the storage manager application 106. The storage manager application 106 maintains (at block 602) at least one additional copy 118a of at least one of the plurality of segments in at least one linear storage medium 112a of a secondary storage 110. In certain embodiments, the storage manager application 106 also maintains (at block 604) parity information in association with the plurality of segments, and in certain additional embodiments the storage manager application 106 stores the parity information of a group of segments of the plurality of segments in a separate segment. Control proceeds to block 606, where the storage manager application 106 receives a request for data corresponding to a virtual logical volume 114, at the first computational device 102. The request may have arrived at the first computational device 102 from a second computational device 104. The storage manager application 106 uses (at block 608) at least one of the plurality of segments and the at least one additional copy 11 8a and optionally the parity information to respond to the received request for data. Therefore, FIG. 6 illustrates certain embodiments wherein segments corresponding to a virtual logical volume are redundantly distributed among a plurality of linear storage media. Parity information corresponding to the segments may also be stored on one or more of linear storage media. The redundantly distributed segments provide recall efficiency because fewer linear storage media may have to be mounted to recall data. The distribution of the segments among a plurality of linear storage media and the storage of the parity information may also provide protection against loss of data on one or more linear storage media. In certain embodiments the distribution of segments may provide partial redundancy whereas in other embodiments the distribution of segments may provide complete redundancy. The parity information provides additional redundancy protection beyond that provided by the redundant distribution of segments in the plurality of linear storage media. Additional Embodiment Details The described techniques may be implemented as a method, apparatus or article of manufacture involving software, firmware, micro-code, hardware and/or any combination thereof. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein refers to code or logic implemented in a medium, where such medium may comprise hardware logic [e.g., an integrated circuit chip, Programmable Gate Array (PGA), Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.] or a computer readable storage medium, such as magnetic storage medium (e.g., hard disk drives, floppy disks, tape, etc.), optical storage (CD-ROMs, optical disks, etc.), volatile and non-volatile memory devices [e.g., Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), flash, firmware, programmable logic, etc.]. Code in the computer readable storage medium is accessed and executed by a processor. The medium in which the code or logic is encoded may also comprise transmission signals propagating through space or a transmission media, such as an optical fiber, copper wire, etc. The transmission signal in which the code or logic is encoded may further comprise a wireless signal, satellite transmission, radio waves, infrared signals, Bluetooth, etc. The transmission signal in which the code or logic is encoded is capable of being transmitted by a transmitting station and received by a receiving station, where the code or logic encoded in the transmission signal may be decoded and stored in hardware or a computer readable medium at the receiving and transmitting stations or devices. Additionally, the “article of manufacture” may comprise a combination of hardware and software components in which the code is embodied, processed, and executed. Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications may be made without departing from the scope of embodiments, and that the article of manufacture may comprise any information bearing medium. For example, the article of manufacture comprises a storage medium having stored therein instructions that when executed by a machine results in operations being performed. Certain embodiments can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardware and software elements. In a preferred embodiment, the invention is implemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. Furthermore, certain embodiments can take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer usable or computer readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk - read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk—read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD. The terms “certain embodiments”, “an embodiment”, “embodiment”, “embodiments”, “the embodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or more embodiments”, “some embodiments”, and “one embodiment” mean one or more (but not all) embodiments unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “including”, “comprising”, “having” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to”, unless expressly specified otherwise. The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “a”, “an” and “the” mean “one or more”, unless expressly specified otherwise. [0047] Devices that are in communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries. Additionally, a description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments. Further, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be described does not necessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. The steps of processes described herein may be performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously, in parallel, or concurrently. When a single device or article is described herein, it will be apparent that more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein (whether or not they cooperate), it will be apparent that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device or article. The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments need not include the device itself. FIG. 7 illustrates the architecture of computing system 700, wherein in certain embodiments the VTS 102 and the hosts 104 of the computing environments 100 of FIG. 1 may be implemented in accordance with the architecture of the computing system 700. The computing system 700 may also be referred to as a system, and may include a circuitry 702 that may in certain embodiments include a processor 704. The system 700 may also include a memory 706 (e.g., a volatile memory device), and storage 708. The storage 708 may include a non-volatile memory device (e.g., EEPROM, ROM, PROM, RAM, DRAM, SRAM, flash, firmware, programmable logic, etc.), magnetic disk drive, optical disk drive, tape drive, etc. The storage 708 may comprise an internal storage device, an attached storage device and/or a network accessible storage device. The system 700 may include a program logic 710 including code 712 that may be loaded into the memory 706 and executed by the processor 704 or circuitry 702. In certain embodiments, the program logic 710 including code 712 may be stored in the storage 708. In certain other embodiments, the program logic 710 may be implemented in the circuitry 702. Therefore, while FIG. 7 shows the program logic 710 separately from the other elements, the program logic 710 may be implemented in the memory 706 and/or the circuitry 702. Certain embodiments may be directed to a method for deploying computing instruction by a person or automated processing integrating computer-readable code into a computing system, wherein the code in combination with the computing system is enabled to perform the operations of the described embodiments. At least certain of the operations illustrated in FIGS. 1-7 may be performed in parallel as well as sequentially. In alternative embodiments, certain of the operations may be performed in a different order, modified or removed. Furthermore, many of the software and hardware components have been described in separate modules for purposes of illustration. Such components may be integrated into a fewer number of components or divided into a larger number of components. Additionally, certain operations described as performed by a specific component may be performed by other components. The data structures and components shown or referred to in FIGS. 1-7 are described as having specific types of information. In alternative embodiments, the data structures and components may be structured differently and have fewer, more or different fields or different functions than those shown or referred to in the figures. Therefore, the foregoing description of the embodiments has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.
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G
| 60G06
| 161G06F
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12
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16
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10573043
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US20070173999A1-20070726
|
Controllers for heavy duty industrial vehicle
|
ACCEPTED
|
20070712
|
20070726
|
[]
|
G06F1900
|
["G06F1900"]
|
7885744
|
20070223
|
20110208
|
701
|
050000
|
67987.0
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BEAULIEU
|
YONEL
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[{"inventor_name_last": "Shinozaki", "inventor_name_first": "Akiko", "inventor_city": "Kanagawa", "inventor_state": "", "inventor_country": "JP"}, {"inventor_name_last": "Suzuki", "inventor_name_first": "Hiroyuki", "inventor_city": "Kanagawa", "inventor_state": "", "inventor_country": "JP"}]
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Hardware of each of controllers (11, 12, 13) for controlling a plurality of instruments to be controlled, which are provided in a reach stacker as a heavy duty industrial vehicle, for example, a vehicle body (3), a spreader (9), and a cabin (10), is rendered common. The configuration of driver software for performing basic control is also rendered common. Only the configuration of minimum required application software is constructed to be suitable for the instrument to be controlled. Because of these features, the software of the controllers (11, 12, 13) can be easily changed. Regardless of the instrument to be controlled, as a subject of control, the controllers can be easily used for any instruments to be controlled.
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1. Controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle, which are a plurality of controllers provided in said heavy duty industrial vehicle equipped with a working machine for performing predetermined work, said plurality of controllers being adapted to control, independently of each other, a plurality of instruments to be controlled, including said working machine, said instruments being provided in said heavy duty industrial vehicle, and characterized in that a configuration of hardware of said plurality of controllers is entirely common. 2. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that said plurality of controllers are interconnected by a network. 3. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that software for controlling each of said instruments to be controlled is of a hierarchical structure, driver software at a lower level for directly controlling each of said instruments to be controlled is common, and only application software at an upper level utilizing said driver software is different according to a function of each of said instruments to be controlled. 4. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 3, characterized in that rewriting means is provided for making only said application software rewritable. 5. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 1, characterized in that limited operation means is provided for enabling an operation by other said controller so that at least said heavy duty industrial vehicle can be run, even if said controller for controlling said working machine fails or is not connected to said network. 6. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 2, characterized in that software for controlling each of said instruments to be controlled is of a hierarchical structure, driver software at a lower level for directly controlling each of said instruments to be controlled is common, and only application software at an upper level utilizing said driver software is different according to a function of each of said instruments to be controlled. 7. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 2, characterized in that limited operation means is provided for enabling an operation by other said controller so that at least said heavy duty industrial vehicle can be run, even if said controller for controlling said working machine fails or is not connected to said network. 8. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 3, characterized in that limited operation means is provided for enabling an operation by other said controller so that at least said heavy duty industrial vehicle can be run, even if said controller for controlling said working machine fails or is not connected to said network. 9. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 4, characterized in that limited operation means is provided for enabling an operation by other said controller so that at least said heavy duty industrial vehicle can be run, even if said controller for controlling said working machine fails or is not connected to said network.
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<SOH> BACKGROUND ART <EOH>A heavy duty industrial vehicle not only has a vehicle moving by itself, but also has a working machine unique to the vehicle. Thus, this type of industrial vehicle is adapted to be capable of performing a predetermined working action with the use of the working machine. Some of such heavy duty industrial vehicles use one controller to control not only the moving action of the vehicle, but also the working action of the working machine, thus controlling the entire vehicle. Some other heavy duty industrial vehicles have separate controllers, such as a controller for the moving action of the vehicle, and a controller for the working action of the working machine, and connect these controllers by a network to control the entire vehicle. Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-165422
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<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>FIG. 1 is a view showing a configuration example in which controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention are used. FIG. 2 is a table showing a constitution example of input/output signals of the controllers for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of the logic configuration of the controllers for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in the event of a failure in the controllers for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating another procedure in the event of a failure in the controllers for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention. detailed-description description="Detailed Description" end="lead"?
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TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to controllers which are used for heavy duty industrial vehicles, for example, a reach stacker as a cargo handling vehicle, and a motor grader as a road surface maintenance vehicle. BACKGROUND ART A heavy duty industrial vehicle not only has a vehicle moving by itself, but also has a working machine unique to the vehicle. Thus, this type of industrial vehicle is adapted to be capable of performing a predetermined working action with the use of the working machine. Some of such heavy duty industrial vehicles use one controller to control not only the moving action of the vehicle, but also the working action of the working machine, thus controlling the entire vehicle. Some other heavy duty industrial vehicles have separate controllers, such as a controller for the moving action of the vehicle, and a controller for the working action of the working machine, and connect these controllers by a network to control the entire vehicle. Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-165422 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention With a configuration in which the entire vehicle is controlled by use of a single controller, control signals to a plurality of instruments to be controlled can be concentrated on the single controller. Thus, software can be constructed in a simple configuration, even when the instruments to be controlled are caused to cooperate. However, a malfunction in one controller would bring the actions of the entire vehicle to a halt. In the heavy duty industrial vehicle, moreover, wirings for control signals from the controller to the instruments to be controlled extend over long distances, and the number of the wirings is large, thus increasing the complexity of the steps for designing and assemblage. Moreover, the parts to be operated are many. Consequently, possibilities are high for malfunctions due to poor contact of the wiring when in use, a break in the wire, and so on. In recent years, use has been made of a method in which a dedicated controller is provided for each of the instruments to be controlled, and the respective controllers are connected by a network to control the actions of the entire vehicle. According to this method, however, the controller composed of dedicated hardware is used for each of the instruments to be controlled. Thus, software needs to be designed individually, and the design of the software is itself complicated. Furthermore, some of the capabilities of the controller, for example, the communication capability, may be rendered common among the controllers. However, the instrument to be controlled by one controller is limited to a particular instrument, or the position of installation of the controller is limited to a predetermined position, and only the particular instrument to be controlled, which is suitable for the particular position of installation, is controlled. Thus, commonality of hardware is insufficient. Besides, software itself needs to be constructed beforehand individually for each of the controllers, and maintainability at the time of failure remains unchanged from that of the controller having the dedicated hardware. That is, the conventional controller has not achieved complete commonality of hardware itself, and has required individual construction of software adapted for the instrument to be controlled as a subject of control. Hence, none of the conventional controllers have been easily divertible to use on any instruments to be controlled. The aforementioned heavy duty industrial vehicles, in particular, are used under harsh service conditions, and if a partial failure stops the action of the entire vehicle, work may be markedly impeded. Thus, it has been desired that in the event of a partial failure, minimum function could be performed so as not to impede work, and a repair operation could also be promptly carried out. The present invention has been accomplished in light of the above-mentioned problems. An object of the present invention is to provide controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle, which have many input/output functions, which are highly versatile, and whose software is easy to change. Means for Solving the Problems Controllers for a heavy duly industrial vehicle according to claim 1 of the present invention, for solving the above problems, are a plurality of controllers which are provided in the heavy duty industrial vehicle equipped with a working machine for performing predetermined work; which control, independently of each other, a plurality of instruments to be controlled, including the working machine, the instruments being provided in the heavy duty industrial vehicle; and which are characterized in that the configuration of hardware of the plurality of controllers is entirely common. Concretely, not only the configuration of the hardware inside each of the controllers is rendered common, but also the positions of disposition, and the numbers, etc., of connectors serving as interfaces with input and output signals (for example, serial signals, analog signals, and digital signals) to and from external instruments to be controlled are rendered common. Depending on the instruments to be controlled, the types, capacities (e.g., voltage), and numbers of the input and output signals required are different. However, the maximum required types, capacities and numbers are provided in common. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 2, which solve the above problems, are the above controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle, characterized in that the plurality of controllers are interconnected by a network. As the network, CAN (controller area network) bus, which is used mainly in automobiles, connects the controllers together. Particularly, high speed CANbus with several Mbps or more is desirable. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 3, which solve the above problems, are the above controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle, characterized in that software for controlling each of the instruments to be controlled is of a hierarchical structure, driver software at a lower level for directly controlling each of the instruments to be controlled is common, and only application software at an upper level utilizing the driver software is different according to the function of each of the instruments to be controlled. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 4, which solve the above problems, are the above controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle, characterized in that rewriting means is provided for making only the application software rewritable. The controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to claim 5, which solve the above problems, are the above controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle, characterized in that limited operation means is provided for enabling an operation by other controller so that at least the heavy duty industrial vehicle can be run, even if the controller for controlling the working machine fails or is not connected to the network. That is, limited operation means, called a degradation mode, is set, whereby even if one of the plurality of controllers fails or is not connected to the network, a limited operation can be performed, permitting the vehicle to run. The subject of the limited operation is not limited to a vehicle run. For example, in order to ensure safety, the action of the working machine may be limited to a minimum required one, which may be operated. Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, the hardware of each of the plural controllers for controlling the instruments to be controlled is rendered common. Thus, by changing only the software installed, the subject of control can be switched, and the controller with the changed software can be diverted to use on the selected instrument. As a result, the types of the parts used in the heavy duty industrial vehicle can be reduced. Moreover, the commonality of the hardware can achieve a unit price reduction due to the economies of mass production. According to the present invention, the plurality of controllers are interconnected by the network (CANbus). Thus, the control function can be distributed among the plural controllers, and the degree of freedom of the locations of arrangement can be improved. That is, the positions of installation of the controllers can be flexibly selected according to the design of the vehicle body of the heavy duty industrial vehicle. The distributed arrangement of the controllers can markedly decrease in-vehicle wirings for operational inputs and outputs for hydraulic selector valves and many signal connections, in comparison with conventional heavy duty industrial vehicles. Also, the effect of cutting down on the wiring cost and the assembly cost is obtained. There is also produced the effect of preventing troubles, such as a break in or poor contact of sensor signal wires of the working machine or the cabin having a slide mechanism. According to the present invention, commonality is achieved of hardware of each controller, and of the lower-level driver software for directly controlling the instruments to be controlled, in the software having the hierarchical structure. Thus, by changing only the upper-level application software utilizing the driver software, the controller with the thus changed application software can be used as a controller for controlling the different instrument to be controlled. Hence, in the event of a damage to one controller, only the application software is rewritten by use of rewriting means such as a maintenance tool. The controller used for other instrument to be controlled, if subjected to such rewriting, can be used as an alternative component for the controller which controls the desired instrument to be controlled. Thus, a step and time, which have been required for emergency saving, can be shortened. According to the present invention, even if one controller, for example, the controller for controlling the working machine, such as the spreader, fails or is not connected to the network, other controller enables vehicle body control and cabin operation of the heavy duty industrial vehicle, thereby permitting a limited operation such as a run operation (degradation mode). Thus, a run of the vehicle becomes possible even during detachment of the working machine at the time of transportation, assemblage, or maintenance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view showing a configuration example in which controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention are used. FIG. 2 is a table showing a constitution example of input/output signals of the controllers for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of the logic configuration of the controllers for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure in the event of a failure in the controllers for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating another procedure in the event of a failure in the controllers for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 front wheel, 2 rear wheel, 3 vehicle body, 4 stand, 5 boom cylinder, 6 boom, 7 arm, 8 lock pin, 9 spreader, 10 cabin BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention control a plurality of instruments to be controlled, which are provided in the heavy duty industrial vehicle. Hardware of each of these controllers is rendered common, the basic features of software are also rendered common, and only the minimum required features of the software are constructed to be suitable for the instruments to be controlled. Thus, the software of the controller can be easily changed. Regardless of the instrument to be controlled, as a subject of control, the controllers can be easily diverted to use on any instruments to be controlled. Even if a malfunction happens in other of the controllers, the controllers for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention enter a degradation mode by a predetermined procedure, thereby enabling only a limited action, for example, a running action, to be performed. Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a view showing a configuration example in which controllers for a heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention are used. In the present invention, the heady duty industrial vehicle is explained, with a reach stacker being taken as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the reach stacker, but can be applied to other heavy duty industrial vehicles, such as a heavy duty fork lift and a motor grader. The reach stacker, if explained briefly, is a heavy duty, cargo-handling vehicle used for loading and unloading or movement of containers in a port, etc. The reach stacker is low in cost, corners easily, has no limitations on the distance over which it moves the container. The reach stacker can access not only the container placed at the front, but the container located at the back, and is thus a cargo handling vehicle very convenient in transshipping and moving containers. As shown in FIG. 1, the reach stacker has a vehicle body 3 mounted with two front wheels 1 and two rear wheels 2; a boom 6 disposed above the vehicle body 3 so as to be tiltable about a stand 4 by boom cylinders 5; an arm 7 provided within the boom 6 so as to be extensible and contractible, and extended and contracted by a telescopic cylinder (not shown) provided within the boom 6; and a spreader 9 provided at a front end portion of the arm 7, adapted to be capable of making an extending and contracting motion, a rotating motion, an inclining motion, and a paralleling motion, and holding a container by four lock pins 8. A cabin 10 is disposed on the upper surface of the vehicle body 3 and below the boom 6, at a position where visibility during work is satisfactory. An operator can perform a moving action for the reach stacker itself, or a holding action or an installing action for the container, with the use of an operating panel within the cabin 10. In the heavy duty industrial vehicle, the working machine is configured so as to be capable of performing a predetermined working procedure. In the reach stacker, for example, the spreader 9 serves as the working machine. As the controllers, the reach stacker has a controller 11 for controlling the spreader 9, a controller 13 for controlling the vehicle so as to move it, and a controller 12 for controlling an operation performed by the operator. These controllers control, independently of each other, the spreader 9, the vehicle body 3 and the cabin 10, respectively, which are instruments to be controlled. In addition, the reach stacker has a display and J/S (joystick) 14 for indicating information to the operator, and indicating operator guidance from the operator. These controllers are interconnected by a high speed CANbus network (hereinafter referred to simply as CAN) 15. Each controller exchanges necessary control information with one another in real time, and performs a control action for each instrument to be controlled. The controller 13, as a main controller, monitors the other controllers 11 and 12, and controls the entire vehicle in an integrated manner. That is, these three controllers, which are interconnected by the CAN 15, constitute a so-called distributed network having capabilities or functions distributed among them. The above controllers are each composed of CPU (processing circuit), a storage region (having ROM containing control software and data, and RAM serving as an arithmetic work area), and an I/F (interface) circuit which is a processing circuit for input and output signals. Since the plurality of controllers are constituted as the distributed network, the controllers can be arranged in proximity to the instruments to be controlled, as compared with the conventional controller which, singly, controls all the instruments to be controlled. Thus, the wirings between the controllers and the instruments to be controlled can be markedly reduced. Since control signals can be exchanged through a single cable for CAN, moreover, the structures between the instruments are simplified. Thus, the number of man-hours required for assembly can be markedly decreased, and the wirings themselves can be cut down on, so that the rate of failures due to a wire break, etc. can be reduced. Furthermore, a quick response at the time of failure becomes possible. In the reach stacker shown in FIG. 1, the controller 11 for controlling the spreader, the controller for the cabin I/O, and the controller 13 for vehicle body control have an exactly common hardware configuration, and use exactly common driver software for setting the actions of the hardware, and for directly actuating control instruments. However, application software for controlling, by use of the driver software, the instruments to be controlled is the only tool that is different among the different controllers. For example, the controller 11 for controlling the actions of the spreader has spreader control software as the application soft ware, the controller 12 for controlling operations from the operator has cabin I/O software as the application software, and the controller 13 for controlling the actions of the vehicle body has vehicle body control software as the application software. Details for these features will be offered later. In the above features, the controller 11, for controlling the actions of the spreader 9, sends control signals to the respective control instruments for the spreader via a working machine I/F 16 to drive motors, and acquires detection signals from sensors to detect the acting state of the spreader, for example, the positions of the lock pins, the inclination angle of the spreader, and so forth. Moreover, the controller 11 lights a warning lamp for indicating that the operation is in progress. The controller 11 also uses working machine electromagnetic control 17 to exercise action control over an electromagnetic valve, thereby controlling the actions of hydraulic cylinders for effecting an extending and contracting action and an inclining action of the spreader 9. The controller 12 acquires input signals from the cabin 10, such as an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal, via an operator I/F 18, and transmits control information to the controllers 11 and 13 via the CAN 15 to control the action of the vehicle 3 and the spreader 9. The controller 13 takes charge of the integrated control of the vehicle by vehicle integrated control 19, and also controls the vehicle body 3 with the use of vehicle body I/F 19. In addition, the controller 13 uses boom servo valve control 20 to exercise action control over the boom 6, uses T/M (transmission) electromagnetic valve control 21 to exercise action control over T/M, and uses engine control 22 to exercise action control over the engine, concretely, control of the oil pressure of the engine and control over a battery. The display and J/S 14 may be those in a configuration comparable to that of any of the above-described controllers. However, the display and J/S 14, unlike the other controllers, are not required to involve many types of input and output signals, but need to give output signals for indication on the display. Thus, they use a dedicated controller to issue signals to the display and acquire signals from the J/S. Even in this case, they have a common communication capability, and can exchange control signals and vehicle information via the CAN 15, independently of the controllers 11, 12, 13. Concretely, information such as a vehicle posture or an error code during the operation of the spreader is indicated on the display 14 with the use of vehicle information acquired from the controller 11 and the controller 13. Also, an operator guidance from the operator, which has been inputted from the J/S 14, is acquired by the dedicated controller, which transmits such operational information to the controllers 11 and 13 via the CAN 15 to control the action of the spreader 9 and the action of the vehicle 3. In the reach stacker of the above configuration, while referring to the work situation (assembled form of cargo, posture of the vehicle, weight of the container, angle of the boom, extension or contraction of the arm, etc.) and the vehicle situation (rotational speed of the engine, speed of the vehicle, etc.) indicated in colors on the display 14, the operator within the cabin 10 operates the J/S 14 on the operating panel of the cabin 10 to perform a moving action of the vehicle body 3, an inclining action of the boom 6, an extending and contracting action of the arm 7, and an extending or contracting action, a rotating action, and a holding action of the spreader 9. For example, in a run with the container being held, control is exercised such that the vehicle body 3 can run, while the spreader 9 is held in a stable posture which enables the run. The stable state of the vehicle is indicated on the display 14. If there is a possibility that the stable posture of the vehicle will be destroyed by an up-slope or the like, for example, control is exercised such that a warning is issued at once to keep a stable posture automatically or manually. FIG. 2 shows a constitution example of input/output signals of the controllers for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention. For comparisons, the table in this drawing also shows the constitution of input/output signals required by the controllers which are used in a general reach stacker, a heavy duty F/L (fork lift), and M/G (motor grader). The controllers for a heady duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention, concretely, have 4 connections for pulse input signals from the instruments to be controlled, 1 connection each for serial signals for synchronous mode, asynchronous mode, and CAN, 5 connections for output signals to the servo valve, 12 connections for outputs to the electromagnetic valve, 12 connections for analog input signals, 2 connections for analog outputs, 24 connections for contact inputs (24V) and 8 connections for contact inputs (5V), and 13 connections for contact outputs (24V) and 5 connections for contact outputs (5V). These are the maximum numbers of connections for inputs and outputs required of the instruments to be controlled, and they are common to these controllers. The capacities of the inputs to and outputs from the contacts (e.g., voltage, etc.) are also the maximum required capacities, and they are common to the controllers. These values correspond to specifications satisfying the requirements for the general reach stacker that are listed in the column on the right of the common controller in FIG. 2. These values also sufficiently fulfill the specifications for the heavy duty F/L and M/G listed at the same time, and can be applied to other heavy duty industrial vehicles as well as the reach stacker. That is, for the commonality of hardware among the controllers, not only the hardware configuration within the controllers, but also the connectors for input and output signals are rendered common, and their positions of arrangement are also rendered exactly identical. Moreover, each of the controllers is entirely boxed to improve dust-proof properties, and when the controller is to be replaced, it suffices to replace its connectors, thereby enabling a predetermined action. FIG. 3 shows an example of the logic configuration of the controllers for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention. FIG. 3 illustrates a logic configuration example of the controller for performing vehicle control. However, the controllers for spreader control and cabin control have exactly the same configuration, except for a vehicle control module portion corresponding to application software. In the logic configuration of the controller for the heavy duty industrial vehicle according to the present invention, concretely, the structures of the CPU and I/F circuit corresponding to hardware are exactly common. Not only the portion corresponding to a physical configuration (i.e., hardware), but also the configuration of portions corresponding to the setting of hardware inside the controller, concretely, settings for a clock, an action mode, CPU terminal function, a pulse counter, PWM (pulse width modulator) function, and an A/D conversion mode, are exactly common, and a so-called microcomputer layer is used as a common platform. Furthermore, the zone of the application layer constituting the software is constructed in a hierarchical structure, and the lower level of the application layer, namely, a driver module having driver software for directly receiving and outputting control signals from and to the instruments to be controlled, is constructed in a completely common configuration. Concretely, a general I/O, a servo valve current control PWM output, pulse conversion, and A/D conversion are used as a common configuration. The driver module and the microcomputer layer are of exactly the same configuration among the controllers. On the other hand, a control module, which is the upper level of the application layer and utilizes the driver software, for example, if it is a vehicle control module, has application software for vehicle control. Depending on which of the instruments to be controlled the vehicle control module controls, the configuration of the vehicle control module becomes different. Concretely, the vehicle control module has software for effecting vehicle speed calculation, transmission control, engine control, switch/lamp control, and cargo handling/working machine control. That is, this portion of the control module is installed with application software for a spreader control module in the case of the spreader, or application software for a cabin control module in the case of the cabin. Furthermore, only this control module portion is replaced according to the instrument to be controlled, whereby the control module portion can function as any of the controllers, and its diverted use is facilitated. The common driver module (drive software) is held in the ROM (read only memory) inside the controller. The control module at the level upward of the driver module utilizes this driver module to control the action of the instrument to be controlled. The control module (application software) is rewritable according to a predetermined procedure, and is held in a rewritable ROM (e.g., flash ROM). Next, the procedure in the event of a failure in the controller will be described with reference to flow charts shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5. For example, the procedure for a degradation mode in the case of a failure in the controller for spreader control is shown in the flow chart of FIG. 4. (Step S1) A failure detection error code on the display 14 within the cabin 10 is verified. At this time, this code is confirmed to be an error code showing a malfunction in the controller for the spreader. (Step S2) An interlock release key SW on the operating panel within the cabin 10 is turned on. (Step S3) It is confirmed that the failure detection error code is not indicated on the display 14 within the cabin 10. If there is a malfunction in the spreader controller, the interlock release key SW transiently releases interlock in disregard of an error in the spreader controller, instead of disabling an operation of the spreader 9 itself. On this occasion, an indication of the failure detection error code on the display 14 is also transiently stopped. (Step S4) An operation is performed, with the interlock release key SW remaining ON. That is, the operation of the spreader 9 is disabled, and other operation, for example, only an operation for running of the vehicle, is enabled. This is the degradation mode (limited operation means), which enables a limited operation even in a state where one of the three controllers is not connected, or there is no operating machine such as the spreader 9. In the reach stacker, according to the degradation mode, the vehicle is rendered capable of running, with the spreader 9 being located at a safe position. (Step S5) The power source for the vehicle is turned off. (Step S6) After a repair or replacement of the spreader controller is completed, the interlock release key SW is turned off (the key is removed). Then, it is confirmed that the failure detection error code is not indicated on the display 14 within the cabin 10. The procedure for the degradation mode in the case of a failure in the controller for controlling other member than the spreader 9 is shown in the flow chart of FIG. 5. (Step S11) A failure detection error code on the display 14 of the cabin 10 is verified. At this time, this code is confirmed to be an error code showing a malfunction in the controller for other member than the spreader, for example, the vehicle body controller. (Step S12) The power source for the vehicle is turned off. (Step S13) The spreader controller and the failed vehicle body controller are both detached, and the spreader controller is attached as a vehicle body controller for serving as a new vehicle body controller. (Step S14) A mode SW of the new vehicle body controller is switched to a software installation mode (rewriting means). (Step S15) The power source for the vehicle is turned on. (Step S16) An installation cable and PC (computer) are connected to the new vehicle body controller to install application software for the vehicle body controller. (Step S17) The power source for the vehicle is turned off. (Step S18) The mode SW of the new vehicle body controller is switched to a RUN mode (usual state). (Step S19) The power source for the vehicle is turned on. Then, the procedure starting with Step S2 in the flow chart shown in FIG. 4 is performed (point A in FIG. 4). INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is not limited to the reach stacker, but can be applied to other heavy duty industrial vehicles, including a heavy duty fork lift and a motor grader.
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19
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00
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11802015
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US20080288677A1-20081120
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KVM switch system with a simplified external controller
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ACCEPTED
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20081105
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20081120
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[]
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G06F1312
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["G06F1312"]
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7730243
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20070518
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20100601
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710
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062000
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84674.0
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CHEN
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ALAN
| "[{\"inventor_name_last\": \"Kirshtein\", \"inventor_name_first\": \"Philip M.\", \"inventor_city\":(...TRUNCATED)
| "A KVM switch system with external control functionality is described. A KVM switch is able to be co(...TRUNCATED)
| "1. An external controller for use with a peripheral switch coupling user peripheral devices to a pl(...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> FIELD OF DISCLOSURE <EOH>This disclosure relates to a simplified external controller for cont(...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS <EOH>The following description, given with respect to the a(...TRUNCATED)
| "FIELD OF DISCLOSURE This disclosure relates to a simplified external controller for controlling a K(...TRUNCATED)
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G
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13
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12
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11840450
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US20090049129A1-20090219
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REAL TIME COLLABORATION FILE FORMAT FOR UNIFIED COMMUNICATION
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ACCEPTED
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20090205
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20090219
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[]
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G06F1516
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["G06F1516"]
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8583733
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20070817
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20131112
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709
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204000
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71704.0
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GOLDBERG
|
ANDREW
| "[{\"inventor_name_last\": \"Faisal\", \"inventor_name_first\": \"Adil\", \"inventor_city\": \"Redmo(...TRUNCATED)
| "The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or a method that facilitates enhancing real time u(...TRUNCATED)
| "1. A system that facilitates enhancing real time unified communications, comprising: an interface t(...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>As computing and network technologies have evolved and have become more robus(...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>The following presents a simplified summary of the innovation in order to provid(...TRUNCATED)
| "CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) This application relates to U.S. Application Ser. No. 11/(...TRUNCATED)
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G
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15
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16
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|||
11833018
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US20080126318A1-20080529
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Method and Apparatus for Remotely Monitoring a Social Website
|
ACCEPTED
|
20080514
|
20080529
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[]
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G06F15173
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["G06F15173", "G06F1730"]
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9858341
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20070802
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20180102
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707
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010000
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66381.0
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MITIKU
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BERHANU
| "[{\"inventor_name_last\": \"Frankovitz\", \"inventor_name_first\": \"Jason\", \"inventor_city\": \"(...TRUNCATED)
| "A computer method, apparatus, system and computer program product for remotely monitoring a social (...TRUNCATED)
| "1. A method to remotely monitor a social website, comprising: monitoring user activity on a remote (...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The amount of time that consumers spend on the Internet has (...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present invention addresses the foregoing problems in the p(...TRUNCATED)
| "RELATED APPLICATION This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/835,(...TRUNCATED)
|
G
| 60G06
| 161G06F
|
151
|
73
|
|||
11839714
|
US20090048700A1-20090219
|
METHOD FOR REPORTING THE STATUS OF A CONTROL APPLICATION IN AN AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENT
|
ACCEPTED
|
20090205
|
20090219
|
[]
|
G06F1900
|
["G06F1900"]
|
7493236
|
20070816
|
20090217
|
702
|
185000
|
97661.0
|
WACHSMAN
|
HAL
| "[{\"inventor_name_last\": \"Mock\", \"inventor_name_first\": \"Michael W.\", \"inventor_city\": \"S(...TRUNCATED)
| "Disclosed are embodiments that provide near real-time monitoring of a control application in a manu(...TRUNCATED)
| "1. A method for monitoring a control application, said method comprising: accessing a plurality of (...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> BACKGROUND <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The embodiments of the invention generally relate t(...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> SUMMARY <EOH>In view of the foregoing, disclosed herein are embodiments of a system, method, (...TRUNCATED)
| "CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is related to the following co-pending app(...TRUNCATED)
|
G
| 60G06
| 161G06F
|
19
|
00
|
|||
11619549
|
US20080163164A1-20080703
|
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MODEL-DRIVEN DASHBOARD FOR BUSINESS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
|
ACCEPTED
|
20080619
|
20080703
|
[]
|
G06F944
|
["G06F944"]
|
8843883
|
20070103
|
20140923
|
717
|
104000
|
75570.0
|
WEI
|
ZHENG
| "[{\"inventor_name_last\": \"Chowdhary\", \"inventor_name_first\": \"Pawan Raghunath\", \"inventor_c(...TRUNCATED)
| "A system, method, and framework resulting therefrom, for a model-driven dashboard for business perf(...TRUNCATED)
| "1. A method of capturing business dashboard model requirements at a business model level, the metho(...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION <EOH>1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally re(...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>The present inventors have recognized that business process and(...TRUNCATED)
| "BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to a (...TRUNCATED)
|
G
| 60G06
| 161G06F
|
9
|
44
|
|||
11777180
|
US20080141017A1-20080612
|
GAMING MACHINE HAVING A SECURE BOOT CHAIN AND METHOD OF USE
|
ACCEPTED
|
20080530
|
20080612
|
[]
|
G06F2100
|
["G06F2100", "G06F15177", "H04L900", "G06F1130"]
|
7827397
|
20070712
|
20101102
|
713
|
002000
|
97901.0
|
REHMAN
|
MOHAMMED
| "[{\"inventor_name_last\": \"McCoull\", \"inventor_name_first\": \"James Ross\", \"inventor_city\": (...TRUNCATED)
| "An electronic gaming machine (EGM) comprises a memory storing boot program code comprising first co(...TRUNCATED)
| "1. An electronic gaming machine (EGM) comprising: a memory storing boot program code comprising fir(...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION <EOH>The development of an electronic gaming machine and program (...TRUNCATED)
| "<SOH> SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION <EOH>In a first aspect, the invention provides an electronic gaming (...TRUNCATED)
| "CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application relates to, and claims priority fro(...TRUNCATED)
|
G
| 60G06
| 161G06F
|
21
|
00
|
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