Media objects are transformed into active, connected objects via identifiers embedded into them or their containers. In the context of a user's playback experience, a decoding process extracts the identifier from a media object and possibly additional context information and forwards it to a server. The server, in turn, maps the identifier to an action, such as returning metadata, re-directing the request to one or more other servers, requesting information from another server to identify the media object, etc. The linking process applies to broadcast objects as well as objects transmitted over networks in streaming and compressed file formats.

Connected audio and other media objects

A power management architecture for an electrical power distribution system, or portion thereof, is disclosed. The architecture includes multiple intelligent electronic devices (“IED's”) distributed throughout the power distribution system to manage the flow and consumption of power from the system using real time communications. Power management application software and/or hardware components operate on the IED's and the back-end servers and inter-operate via the network to implement a power management application. The architecture provides a scalable and cost effective framework of hardware and software upon which such power management applications can operate to manage the distribution and consumption of electrical power by one or more utilities/suppliers and/or customers which provide and utilize the power distribution system. Autonomous communication on the network between IED's, back-end servers and other entities coupled with secure networks, themselves interconnected, via firewalls, by one or more unsecure networks, is facilitated by the use of a back-channel protocol. The back-channel protocol allows a device coupled with a secure network to solicit communications from a device on the unsecure network, thereby opening a back-channel through the firewall through which the unsecure network device may send unsolicited messages to the secure network device. Communications between multiple secure networks is accomplished using a unsecure device on an intermediary unsecure network to relay communications between the secure network devices using the protocol described above.

Push communications architecture for intelligent electronic devices

A method, system and article of manufacture therefor, are disclosed for automatically generating a query from document content.

System for automatically generating queries

Systems and methods are described for performing policy-managed, peer-to-peer service orchestration in a manner that supports the formation of self-organizing service networks that enable rich media experiences. In one embodiment, services are distributed across peer-to-peer communicating nodes, and each node provides message routing and orchestration using a message pump and workflow collator. Distributed policy management of service interfaces helps to provide trust and security, supporting commercial exchange of value. Peer-to-peer messaging and workflow collation allow services to be dynamically created from a heterogeneous set of primitive services. The shared resources are services of many different types, using different service interface bindings beyond those typically supported in a web service deployments built on UDDI, SOAP, and WSDL. In a preferred embodiment, a media services framework is provided that enables nodes to find one another, interact, exchange value, and cooperate across tiers of networks from WANs to PANs.

Interoperable systems and methods for peer-to-peer service orchestration

The invention relates to hardware, software and electronic service components and systems to provide large-scale, reliable, and secure foundations for distributed databases and content management systems, combining unstructured and structured data, and allowing post-input reorganization to achieve a high degree of flexibility.

Systems and methods for use of structured and unstructured distributed data

A syndicator for disseminating Web services and other resources from service and content providers to service consumers and for establishing and implementing subscription agreements specifying the terms upon which digital assets are provided to subscribers. A registration database stores a service description for each of a plurality of different Web services and other resources. Each stored service description contains an input processing specification, an output processing specification, and the specification of the business terms upon which the described service or resource is offered by its provider to subscribers. A subscription manager conducts a negotiation with a prospective subscriber and receives from the subscriber an acceptance of the business terms upon which a specified Web service or resource is offered to establish a subscription agreement. Event tracking records information describing the performance of each service on behalf of each subscriber to perform subscription accounting functions.

Web service syndication system

A dynamic services infrastructure accepts data describing data resources and stores that data in a relational database from which it may be retrieved to handle service requests issued by application programs. The database stores Service Definition data which is initially supplied in the form of XML Service Descriptor documents which are then mapped into the database from which they may be accessed. Each Service Definition includes an input specification which identifies the address of a resource as well as the nature of the input data to be supplied to the resource with the request, and further includes an output specification which describes the nature of the output information which is supplied by the resource in response to the request. The Service Definition further includes information describing the service provider which supplies the resource, test information including fixed input and output values which permit the operability of the resource to be verified, update information which permits the infrastructure to insure that the Service Definition information is kept current, and security information which permits the system to validate users and provide secure encrypted information exchanges. When a client sends a request for services to the infrastructure, obtains the service description for the desired resource from the database, transmits an output information request to the address specified in said the service description, supplying input information meeting the specification contained in said particular service description to said particular resource, and receives and routs output information provided by said particular resource in response to said output information request to the executing application program.

System for dynamically invoking remote network services using service descriptions stored in a service registry

An extensible framework for the automatic extraction and transformation of metadata into logical annotations. Metadata imbedded within a media file is extracted by a type-specific parsing module which is loaded and executed based on the mimetype of the media file being described. A content processor extracts information, typically in the form of time-based samples, from the media content. An auxiliary processing step is performed to collect additional metadata describing the media file from sources external to the file. All of the metadata thus collected is combined into a set of logical annotations, which may be supplemented by summary data generated from the metadata already collected. The annotations are then formatted into a standardized form, preferably XML, which is then mapped into a database schema. The database object also stores the source XML data as well as the original media file in addition to the annotation metadata. The system provides unified metadata repositories, which can then be used for indexing and searching.

System for collecting, transforming and managing media metadata

Techniques are provided for defining and coordinating execution of a compound service, which uses results from a plurality of base services, over a network. A sequence in which a plurality of modules must be executed to perform the compound service is specified in dependency information, and the modules in the sequence are executed according to the dependency information and under the management of a service execution adapter. Each module operates upon messages according to module properties, and is able to communicate using event messages.

Paul Lin

Papers

Web service syndication system

System for dynamically invoking remote network services using service descriptions stored in a service registry

System for collecting, transforming and managing media metadata

Distributed service aggregation and composition

Dynamic services infrastructure for allowing programmatic access to internet and other resources