A system and method for identifying and establishing preferred modalities or channels for communications based on participants' preferences and capabilities is provided. In one approach, the system attempts to optimize the inferred or directly accessed preferences of a contactee given the accessed or inferred preferences, capabilities and goals of the contactor while keeping the rationale and context of the contactee private. Such optimization can be achieved using preferences and policies concerning handling the attempted contact based on a deterministic specification or through inferring context, content and task under uncertainty by employing decision-theoretic inferences to attempt to maximize the expected utility of the communication to the contactee. The methods may include a consideration of metadata within a standard schema that is transmitted along with a communication attempt, representing information about such attributes as the identity of the contactor, the task at hand, the overall context of the contactor, and the communication capabilities available to the contactor. The invocation of the communication service may be performed in a variety of ways, including single button invocations, and via a communication service that is more deeply integrated with other applications and functionalities. The service can also include automated rescheduling of communications based on a consideration of forecasts of availability of both the contactor and contactee.

System and method for identifying and establishing preferred modalities or channels for communications based on participants' preferences and contexts

A system and method for identifying ideal channels for communications based on an analysis of communication channel reliability, communicating party preferences, and communicating party contexts is provided. The system attempts to optimize the utility of a communication based on inferred or directly accessed channel reliability data, communicating party preferences and communicating party contexts. Such optimization can be achieved using reliabilities, preferences and policies concerning handling the attempted contact based on a deterministic specification or through inferring reliability, context, content and task under uncertainty by employing decision-theoretic inferences. The methods may consider channels currently available as well as channels available at later times. Thus, the service can include automated rescheduling of communications based on a consideration of forecasts of reliability and availability. The approach may include the use of forecasts about the time required for a communication and the likelihood that a connection will be dropped or will lose fidelity over this period of time. The methods may also include a consideration of metadata within a standard schema that is transmitted along with a communication attempt, the metadata representing information about attributes like the potential communication channels, the identity of the contactor, the task at hand, and the context of the communicating parties. The invocation of the communication service may be performed in a variety of ways, including single button invocations, and via a communication service that is more deeply integrated with other applications and functionalities.

System for performing context-sensitive decisions about ideal communication modalities considering information about channel reliability

A system for optimizing the value of communications between communicating parties is provided. The system includes a communication group manager that facilitates specifying policies, preferences and/or automated analysis of ideal communication channels, routing and/or scheduling in terms of communicating party groups that can be pre-populated clusters of communicating parties, assembled based on relationships (e.g., organizational), and/or assembled based on satisfying inclusion criteria (e.g., age, location, competence, communication history, meeting history). The communication group manager maps communicating parties into predefined and/or dynamically created groups that facilitate specifying and/or automatically computing ideal communication actions like selecting a channel, displaying lists of potential channels sorted by communicating party preferences, and (re)scheduling communications to different channels and/or times. Ideal communication actions can be identified by maximizing a measure of expected communication utility, where groups provide simplifying abstractions to facilitate assessment of outcome utilities. The method can employ representations of preferences of the contactor and contactee that allow for group-specific preference considerations that weight differentially contactor and/or contactee preference considerations in communication action optimization. The system includes a group wise communication coordinator that identifies optimal group communication sets. The method facilitates a recipient communicating with a group member where the communication utility is optimized based on a preference, and a context associated with the group to which the member belongs.

Methods, tools, and interfaces for the dynamic assignment of people to groups to enable enhanced communication and collaboration

The present invention relates to a system and methodology providing a user interface that can be employed by contactors and contactees in conjunction with a communications architecture for identifying and establishing an optimal communication based on preferences, capabilities, contexts and goals of the parties to engage in the communication. The user interface can include a graphical display having a plurality of display objects and associated input fields operable by one or more parties to a communication in order to facilitate convenient access, control, personalization and communications via the communications architecture. For example, configuration capabilities are provided in the user interface to enable operational adjustments to one or more operating parameters, communications groupings, policies and/or context preferences relating to a preferred modality of communication and to potential parties of communication between the contactors and contactees. User interface controls are also provided for defining deterministic policies and for encoding preferences for cost-benefit analyses.

Representation, decision models, and user interface for encoding managing preferences, and performing automated decision making about the timing and modalities of interpersonal communications

A technique of implementing performance monitoring in a power plant is appropriate to control operating parameters and factors connected with the efficiency of the energy production process in an energy marketplace that is more complex than in the past, and that takes into account more than just the cost of fuel. In particular, this method works well when the real costs of production are dependent on other variable costs besides the cost of fuel, such as environmental credits, equipment degradation and repair costs, as well as electrical energy trade market factors like ramp rate, LMP factors, and the ability to deliver contracted power levels and spot transactions. The power plant performance monitoring technique applies a statistical analysis to collected power plant data to determine the factors that are best controlled or changed to affect (increase) the efficiency or other primary performance indication of the plant, in whatever state or operating level the plant is run. Because heat rate calculation applications are typically performed on-line, it is possible to analyze collected plant data in detail and to apply for example, principal component analysis (PCA) and linear and nonlinear regression analysis to the data, which enables the performance method to obtain a more accurate detection of the influence of the principal process parameters that affect heat rate deviation (efficiency), as well as to establish baseline or best-possible operational constraints to be used to control the plant in the future. This performance based control methodology will allow for near optimum performance of power plants by constantly allowing for refinement and best practices and control to be realized.

Use of statistical analysis in power plant performance monitoring

The disclosed invention is a software license management system (SLMS) utilizing a web-based interactive database to automate a software management process (SWMP) for managing software assets, measuring compliance requirements, and tracking/reporting status as necessary to assure proficiency and adherence to implementation requirements of the software management process. The SWMP is a process consisting of five different phases. The five steps of the SWMP involve identification of various solution alternatives, acquisition, deployment, maintenance and software retirement. The SWMP establishes high-level software management process to avoid litigation and penalties, maximize software asset utilization through tighter inventory control, and capitalize on the software procurement process.

Web-based system for managing software assets

A reliability assessment analysis system. Included as part of system are a plurality of analysis stations, at least one of the analysis stations being located at a remote geographic location from others, and each of the analysis stations being capable of performing reliability assessment analysis processes on components or systems of components. Further provided is a plurality of database sites, where at least one of the database sites is located at a remote geographic location from the others. Each database site includes a database of data, at least some of the data being usable by at least one of the analysis stations. A communications infrastructure provides a communication path between and among the plurality of analysis stations and the plurality of database sites. The analysis stations and database sites are configured to provide a user of at least one of the analysis stations with access to more than a single one of the database sites. The analysis stations and the database sites are further configured to update data stored on the database sites when newly updated data is entered into the system.

Reliability assessment method, apparatus and system for quality control

A statistical process capability calculation method involves
acquiring certain input information (102,104) for use in connection with
the calculation process, establishing a mathematical model (114-120)
based on the input data, using the mathematical model to perform
certain statistical analyses and generating an output (122-126) based
on the statistical analyses. The input information includes real world
data regarding a parameter under consideration. The real world data is
used to derive a statistical distribution and/or a transfer function. The
resulting mathematical model is therefore closely correlated to actual
production conditions. The mathematical model can be used to
establish controls related to achieving a desired quality standard
thereby reducing production costs.

Method and apparatus for achieving a quality standard

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the prediction performance of a statistical model and to reduce production cost by obtaining real data on the product of a consideration object or the parameter of a process, deriving statistical distribution from real data by using a processor and setting control related to desired quality standard through the use of derived statistical distribution. SOLUTION: In a method 100 as a whole, a piece of input information for using it in association with a calculation process is obtained (processes 102 to 104). A mathematical model is set on the basis of input data (processes 108 to 112) and a statistical analysis is executed, by using the mathematial model (processes 114 to 120). An output is generated on the basis of the statistical analysis (processes 122 to 126). The model can contain distribution and a transmission function which are derived from real data. The mathematial model is generated, by selecting a calculation method (108), deriving one or more distributions (110) and deriving the transmission function (112).

Method and device for realizing quality standard

A hybrid learning system is provided for searching an experimental space. A data mart is configured to acquire, store, and manipulate a set or meta-set of data including at least historical experimental data, descriptor data, and concurrent experimental data. A search engine is designed to use unsupervised learning techniques to select a set of evaluation points representing a corresponding set of experiments to be run, based on data from the data mart. A point evaluation mechanism provided with supervised learning modules which perform predictive processing based on the evaluation points selected by the search engine, and a scoring module performs a rating operation on outputs of the learning modules to rate the outputs of the learning modules from best to worst. The data mart search engine and point evaluation mechanism allow for a repetitive processing to refine an output of potential solutions without the requirement of continually running actual physical experiments.

Christopher Leon Stanard

Papers

Web-based system for managing software assets

Reliability assessment method, apparatus and system for quality control

Method and apparatus for achieving a quality standard

Method and device for realizing quality standard

Method and apparatus for exploring an experimental space