Pi-Coral Patents Portfolio and Recent Patents Application Filed

Large scale data storage
Pi-Coral, Inc., San Jose, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,015,198) developed by Osmond, Roger Frederick, Littleton, MA, for a “method and apparatus for large scale data storage.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A logical apparatus and associated methods provide highly scalable and flexible data storage in a network of computers. The apparatus provides flexible organizational and access control mechanisms and a practical and efficient way to work with smaller portions of a data storage system at a given time to enable sparse population, caching, paging and related functions. A data structure, called a virtual container, comprises references to objects stored in a data storage system such that the same object can be visible from different virtual containers, if such virtual containers hold references to said object. Access controls further enhance the effectiveness of the methods and structures to enable multiple simultaneous organizational schemes and selective sharing of objects. Participating nodes provide access to objects stored on said nodes and their participating peer nodes, employing the data storage apparatus, such that balance in the network is achieved by data placement decisions that may combine common constraints and a node’s individual self interest.“

The patent application was filed on May 24, 2010 (12/785,993).

Virtual access to network services
Pi-Coral, Inc., San Jose, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,909,781) developed by Osmond, Roger Frederick, Littleton, MA, for a “virtual access to network services.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Methods, systems, and computer readable storage media for providing virtual access to network services. A virtual storage layer contains reference objects configured to reference network services stored in a network computing environment. Network clients access the reference objects through a resource interface based on a resource identifier associated with the virtual storage layer. Initiation of the virtual service by a network client invokes the service in a native computing environment of the service.“

The patent application was filed on July 26, 2012 (13/559,360).

Making intelligent data placement decisions in computer network
Pi-Coral, Inc., San Jose, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,886,804) developed by Osmond, Roger Frederick, Littleton, MA, for a “method for making intelligent data placement decisions in a computer network.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method for making data placement decisions in a computer network uses multiple factors comprising social rules, rules, factors and criteria common to all participating nodes and intended to benefit the community of nodes), as well as rules, factors and criteria driven by individual self-interest of the participating nodes. The method calls for each node to act in a semi-autonomous manner, without the need for a central coordinating node. By considering multiple factors fully, and not eliminating factors by a sequence of True/False decisions, the method may arrive at optimal decisions and may generate a ranked list of node candidates.“

The patent application was filed on May 24, 2010 (12/786,131).

Making optimal selections based on multiple objective and subjective criteria
Pi-Coral, Inc., San Jose, CA, has been assigned a patent (8,886,586) developed by Osmond, Roger Frederick, Littleton, MA, for a “method for making optimal selections based on multiple objective and subjective criteria.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method for making optimal decisions includes the ability to consider and weigh multiple factors, where those factors might be numeric, or non-numeric, objective or subjective. Further, the method ensures that factors are not prematurely eliminated. This contrasts with behavior common to decision-tree based approaches. The method further allows for weighting based on multiple statistical means as well as by the application of non-statistical values.“

The patent application was filed on May 18, 2010 (12/782,495).

Recent US patents application

Virtual access to network services
Pi-Coral, Inc., San Jose, CA, has filed a patent application (20150095976) developed by Osmond, Roger Frederick, Littleton, MA, for a “virtual access to network services.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Methods, systems, and computer readable storage media for providing virtual access to network services. A virtual storage layer contains reference objects configured to reference network services stored in a network computing environment. Network clients access the reference objects through a resource interface based on a resource identifier associated with the virtual storage layer. Initiation of the virtual service by a network client invokes the service in a native computing environment of the service.“

The patent application was filed on December 8, 2014 (14/563594).

Making intelligent data placement decisions in computer network
Pi-Coral, Inc., San Jose, CA, has filed a patent application (20150066833) developed by Osmond, Roger Frederick, Littleton, MA, for a “method for making intelligent data placement decisions in a computer network.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method for making data placement decisions in a computer network uses multiple factors comprising social rules, rules, factors and criteria common to all participating nodes and intended to benefit the community of nodes), as well as rules, factors and criteria driven by individual self-interest of the participating nodes. The method calls for each node to act in a semi-autonomous manner, without the need for a central coordinating node. By considering multiple factors fully, and not eliminating factors by a sequence of True/False decisions, the method may arrive at optimal decisions and may generate a ranked list of node candidates.“

The patent application was filed on November 10, 2014 (14/537527).

Recent WIPO patent application

Storage translation Layer
Pi-Coral, Inc., San Jose, CA, has filed at WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) a patent application (WO2014039923) developed by Stephens, Donpaul C. for a “storage translation Layer.”

The abstract of the patent published by the WIPO states: ”Method and systems for distributing the translation layer of storage media (such as NAND Flash or Storage Class Memory Storage) system across various storage system components are described herein. Non-limiting examples of storage system components include a Persistent Storage Device (PSD), a Storage Aggregation Controller (SAC), and a Storage Management Writer (SMW). The SMW may be configured to maintain a table of the logical address of each page it writes to a PSD via a SAC. The SAC may maintain the status of the validity of previously written pages with the SMW informing the SAC when any page is no longer valid. The PSD may handle device specific issues including error correction and block-level mapping for management of block-level failures and internal wear-leveling. The SAC may handle garbage collection of the physical pages within the PSDs it is managing, while the SMW may maintain the actual page-level tables .“

The patent application was filed on September 6, 2013 (PCT/US2013/058644).